Lights, Camera, Action!
by Greywolf
Summary: Another AU romantic comedy from Greywolf (the hack). When Kagome transfers to Redrock College to major in film and TV production, she's a little less than prepared when she meets the campus TV club. And Inuyasha is even less prepared to meet her.
1. The New Girl on Campus

Author's Notes: Well, here I am working on this in tandem with my Midnight Society application and my original work Stare Into the Abyss. There are so many things I should be doing instead, but I just feel like writing these last few days.  
  
Anyway, this one will be similar to in some ways and different from in others my other story, Let the Music Be Your Master. I think I can actually do better with this one if I try. Here we go...  
  
Lights, Camera, Action!  
  
Chapter 1- The New Girl on Campus  
  
Kagome Higurashi surveyed her handiwork on the dorm room she would be staying in for the rest of the semester. She had just transferred to Redrock College and had come a couple weeks into the semester. She hadn't stayed at her last college for more than freshman year. It just didn't fit. So hectic, too vast, and far too crowded. It was her mother who recommended trying a smaller school as opposed to the large universities she had been trying thus far.  
  
The dorm itself was rather nice. Cream walls and a soft purple carpet in the center of the room covering off-white tiles. Kagome had covered her bed in white sheets with a green blanket, comforter, and pillow cases. She had set up her desk with very meticulous care. Computer, stationary organizer, the drawers all organized by what sort of contents they held, and a small space in the corner for snacks during study time. Rather than get a TV, she had simply gotten the software and hardware she needed to get cable on her computer. The minifridge sat in the corner. Kagome's as-of-yet unknown roommate had only left a few bottles of water and two cans of Sprite in it. The microwave sat on top.  
  
Well, it was a Friday afternoon and Kagome didn't have to start classes until Monday. She decided the best thing to do right now would be to go and see when the next meetings for the film and TV clubs would be. One nice thing about this campus was that it was so much smaller and more intimate. Not at all like those massive universities where you could get lost very easily. This one also seemed much more old-fashioned. Red brick buildings and brick-paved pathways, lots of patches of lawn with tall trees full of birds and squirrels, and ivy covering several hill slopes. It all looked so peaceful and hospitable.  
  
Kagome entered the modest college center building and approached the front desk where a woman in her fifties was going through a list of calls she had to make and one of the seniors from campus was mulling over a handful of events posters. "Excuse me," she said pleasantly, "but you could tell me when the film and TV clubs are scheduled to meet next?"  
  
The boy looked up from his work and started to very obviously check her out. Good thing she had gotten used to it by now. Like any other rational human being, Kagome had more than a fair share of self-conscious moments regarding her looks, but she was becoming a little more secure. She had long, black, wavy hair that she just let hang free since it never really wanted to be styled, grey eyes, pale skin, and a slender frame which she worked hard to maintain. She dressed simply, but still enough to show off with blue jeans and a green T-shirt that hinted at her curves without revealing too much. She decided to take the looks she was getting as a compliment. For now.  
  
"Actually, those two clubs are one-and-the-same. Hang on a second..." The boy leaned back in his chair a bit and looked through a red brochure that had been tacked to the wall behind him. "You're in luck. They just started a meeting fifteen minutes ago. You know how to find the studio?"  
  
What luck! Not only were the clubs the same, but she would get to meet the people in them today! "Thanks! I remember how to get to it from my campus tour. Thanks, again!" Without another word, she took off toward Regis Hall. She remembered being told that the studio was on the ground floor below the entrance and close to the rear exit. It was situated there because the building was built within the corner of a slope that left room for that sort of construction. Navigating the halls, and going down the stairs, Kagome realized that the studio would be easier to find than she thought. She heard music palying loudly from around the corner. She turned to see the third door on the right standing wide open and the music coming from there. Yup. That was the studio, alright.  
  
Kagome took a second to straighten herself out and walked up. She looked inside to see a small set with a desk and chairs and more stage furniture off to the side. The tyical array of lights and three cameras on tripods were also in place. A window in the wall gave her a look into the director and editor's booth and she saw the strangely moving tops of a few people's heads. She walked further in to see several dry erase boards, a corkboard, and a couple couches forming a sort of lounge.  
  
She peaked around the corner and had to restrain her laughter at the sight inside. There were four people in there, all around her age. The one closest to the door was a girl with long dark hair and eyeshadow in a purple sweater and jeans. She was busy working with an editing machine along with a skinny little boy with red hair in a hoody and cargo pants. But what was really funny was the two guys behind them banging their heads as they sat in a pair of swiveling officer chairs. One was a guy with black hair in a small tail with several earrings dressed all in black. The other one was a tall, lean guy dressed in baggy black cargo pants with a red T-shirt under a black button-down with red and grey dragons printed on it. His black hair hung down to his waist and he started singing along with the music as the chorus came up.  
  
"God of thunder/And rock and roll!/The spell you're under/Will slowly rob you of your virgin soul!"  
  
Kagome couldn't help it at that point and she burst out laughing. It was just too funny watching him banging his head to the rhythm guitar as he practically roared out the lyrics along with the singer on the speakers.  
  
Apparently, she must have been audible over the blasting music because before she could contain herself, the music went off amidst protests of the two dark-haired guys. "We have company," the girl at the desk said.  
  
Kagome looked up and calmed herself as all eyes fell on her. The young man in black immediately smiled while his friend pulled the hair back out of his eyes. Kagome couldn't help but stare a bit. That long hair had hid one of the most beautiful faces she had ever seen. She caught herself absently wondering if he was single before thinking it was silly to think that way of someone she hadn't even officially met yet.  
  
"Ki-" the long-haired boy said before stopping himself. His brow furrowed in confusion and Kagome had to wonder what was going through his head. He stood up and took a couple steps before giving his head a light shake and frowning slightly as he looked away. What was he doing?  
  
"Hey, guys, I... I gotta go drain the lizard. I'll be right back." Despite attempts of protest by other members of the group, he strode out anyway, brushing past Kagome and obviously trying very hard not to look at her. Well, that was rude!  
  
"Sorry about that," the other boy said. "Inuyasha's not exactly a people person."  
  
Kagome looked back to the remaining people in the room. "Oh. Well, my name is Kagome Higurashi. I just transferred here and wanted to join the TV club."  
  
"Awesome," the red-haired boy piped up. "The four of us are the only ones running it right now. I'm Shippo Takashiro."  
  
The girl next to him spoke up next. "I'm Sango Ishikawa."  
  
The other boy then rose up and moved toward Kagome with a very smooth smile on his face. "And I'm-"  
  
"Miroku Masanobu, you sit the hell down this instant!" Sango snapped, giving Miroku a dark glare.  
  
Miroku simply smiled softly and sat back down in his swivel chair.  
  
"Miroku's a little... forward with women," Shippo said in response to Kagome's confused look.  
  
"That's putting it mildly," Sango said, still looking a little peeved.  
  
"Hey, I don't want to sound intrusive or anything," Kagome chided in, "but that other guy, Inuyasha was it?"  
  
Miroku nodded. "That's right. Inuyasha Takamura."  
  
"Is he always that... rude?" There she'd said it. What he did was really rude, there was just no getting around it.  
  
The other three all looked at each other flatly, clearly expecting Miroku to be the answer man on that one. "Well..." he said thoughtfully. "Yes and no. He's never been much for manners, and he's usually just really quiet. And uh... well you kind of... might want to give him some space. I mean more than most people would have to."  
  
What the hell was that supposed to mean? "What do you mean by that?" Kagome asked indignantly. "What's wrong with me?"  
  
"Nothing," Miroku defended. "It's just... it's probably not my place to say but..."  
  
Sango rolled her eyes impatiently and beat Miroku to it. "The thing is, you bear a really wierd resemblence to Kikyo, Inuyasha's ex-girlfriend. She dumped him only a week before school started after this little... incident, and he hasn't been taking it well."  
  
"Poor guy's got bad rejection issues," Shippo added. "Just give him some time and space. If you can get past the rough exterior, he's not so bad."  
  
Kagome was still annoyed by Inuyasha's behavior, but she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him. Alright, she'd give him another chance. But he had better adjust that attitude! She was going to be a part of this club and she wasn't about to let his "issues" get in her way.  
  
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In the bathroom, Inuyasha was still just taking his time. He couldn't believe he had mistaken that girl for Kikyo. She looked similar, yeah. But she had different eyes, different hair, different taste in clothes... Argh, why he couldn't he get that woman out of his head?! It hurt like hell to be dumped, but there was no way he was about to let her come out better than him.  
  
Inuyasha splashed a little cold water on his face to snap himself out of that train of thought. He just had to stay away from the girl for a while. She looked like a new student. Hopefully he wouldn't have any classes with her. Maybe she would turn out not to be so bad after all... Yeah, and maybe parakeets would fly out of his ass!  
  
Why did women have to be so damn complicated? He suppressed the urge to growl in frustration over his situation. He dried off his hands and languidly stalked back to the studio.  
  
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"Anyway," Kagome said as she sat on one of the sofas, "how about I order us all some pizza and you can tell me about this place."  
  
The votes were unanimous as Inuyasha slinked in. "What's going on? What did I miss?"  
  
"Kagome offered to buy us all pizza," Shippo answered. "She's going to be joining the club."  
  
Kagome looked up at Inuyasha with a friendly smile but noticed the look of dread that crossed his face when they made eye contact. He would be a lot better looking if he didn't look perpetually pissed off. "Are you okay?" she asked gently.  
  
"Fine," he snorted and stalked off back into the booth. The heavy metal blasting through the speakers resumed.  
  
Sango heaved a sigh of exasperation while Miroku and Shippo just rolled their eyes. Sango got out of her seat and sat next to Kagome. "Tell you what. We'll help you with a peace offering." She made sure to keep her voice low enough that Inuyasha wouldn't hear her in the booth. "We'll all pitch in and get Inuyasha his own pizza. I swear sometimes that he's hollow. There's no other explanation for how he eats. Anyway, we'll get him his favorite pizza and tell him it was your idea after asking what he likes."  
  
Kagome smiled at the idea. "Great! Let's get out of the way so I can order our food. With that blasting in the background, I don't think the pizza place would ever be able to hear me."  
  
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Inuyasha was starting to feel better when he found his music rudely interrupted again by someone switching it off. "Hey!" He looked up to see Miroku.  
  
"Pizza's here, bro." And with that, he slipped back out into the main studio. The smell of fresh pizza soon wafted in after him as if to fill the void and mock Inuyasha as he sat there. He quickly got up and stalked out to see three pizzas out.  
  
"Inuyasha!" Kagome said, giving him a little wave before pointing to a pizza box set on the desk with the teleprompter computer. "That one's yours. I got you a pepperroni and sausage stuffed crust."  
  
Inuyasha looked at Kagome in surprise then over at the pizza. He lifted the lid and sure enough, saw his favorite sitting right in front of him. He glanced at Kagome from the corner of his eye and grunted out something that sounded like "Thanks." He then took the box and moved to go back into the booth again.  
  
"Where do you think you're going?" Sango snapped.  
  
Inuyasha looked back at her and just sort of jerked his head in the direction he was moving in before she had stopped him. As it wasn't obvious, for god's sake.  
  
"The hell you are. I'm not letting any food in there under any circumstances. You're eating out here." Sango gave him one of those don't-you-dare-argue-with-me looks and Inuyasha sighed in defeat. He went up onto the set and began to eat at the desk.  
  
"I suppose that's the best we're going to get out of you, isn't it?" Shippo said sarcastically.  
  
Inuyasha just gave him a dark glare. "Roast in hell," he muttered.  
  
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Kagome couldn't believe that Inuyasha was still being so cold. She looked to Sango for help, but the other girl simply rolled her eyes and mouthed "He gets like this sometimes."  
  
Sango then cleared her throat. "So Kagome, do you have experience in TV production?"  
  
Kagome swallowed a mouthful of pizza and smiled. "Well, I did some stage acting in middle and high school and helped a friend out with some film projects in senior year. I was also on the high school TV club doing news. Last year when I was at the university I took acting lessons and a scriptwriting class. I was hoping next semester I could learn to direct, though."  
  
"That's great," Miroku said. "We're a little short-staffed around here and we need more people and more regular shows before we can get our new budget approved next semester."  
  
"What shows do you have right now?" Kagome asked.  
  
"At the moment we only have our news and review show that we tape every Saturday at noon," Sango answered, sounding a little crestfallen. "Shippo wants to do a comedy show, but we need more people."  
  
Shippo himself then jumped in. "Yeah, and Inuyasha is mostly just a technical guy. Plus he's working on his radio project too."  
  
Kagome looked over at Inuyasha but he still just kept eating quietly. Was there a single crack in his armor? He didn't seem like a bad guy. Just like he didn't honestly give a damn about what people thought of him.  
  
She shook her head to clear it of those thoughts. "Well, there were a few things I've been meaning to try. You said that you're all meeting here tomorrow at noon?"  
  
"Yes. We do a half-hour of news. Sort of a week-in-review thing. Then we take a half-hour to review books, movies, music, that kind of thing."  
  
"How about I come down and I'll bring you some show concepts and a couple scripts I've been working on?" She knew that they would probably accept, but any time you made such a proposal you felt a nervous sense that someone was going to say no.  
  
"Screw that."  
  
... Well that came out of left field! Kagome looked over at Inuyasha who had his brow furrowed but refused to make eye contact.  
  
"I have to say, Inuyasha," Miroku said bemusedly, "you're really outdoing yourself tonight."  
  
Inuyasha just sent Miroku another of his glares but before he could open his mouth, Shippo interrupted. "I don't see why you're being such a jack-ass tonight. Kagome just wants to help. What, does that stick up your ass have termites, too?"  
  
Before Inuyasha could snap at Shippo, he was again interrupted, this time by Sango. "You have to admit, you've really surpassed your quota for douchebaggery tonight."  
  
Once again, Inuyasha tried to say something back but was interrupted, this time by Kagome. "Look, I don't know what you're problem with me is, but I've been trying to be nice to you this whole evening." She was feeling more than a little indignant over this. After all, she was trying to make peace and he just kept grunting like a caveman. "Can't you just act civil for even a minute?"  
  
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Inuyasha stared at Kagome in shock for a second. Very few people had ever stood up to him like that. He wasn't quite sure how to feel about that yet. Still, no matter what he said, the others had him outnumbered and they wanted her to stay. Guess he was just going to have to slog through it. "Fine," he spat. "I'm outta here." With that, he took what was left of his pizza and stormed out.  
  
Who the hell did she think she was, anyway? Then again... why was he so upset about her standing up to him? He was acting pretty cold. And it did seem like a lot of trouble to go to avoiding her. Why was he avoiding her anyway? Because she looked kind of like Kikyo?... Feh, screw that! That bitch dumped him, and he was not going to let that get to him! He would work with Kagome and show that the break-up did not affect him in the least. Yeah, that was the plan.  
  
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Kagome got worried a few seconds after Inuyasha left. "Did... did he just quit?" she asked, feeling a little nervous.  
  
Everyone else just laughed. "No," Shippo said after a moment. "He's just having one of his tantrums. To be honest, you're the first person to win an argument with him in a while. He hates losing."  
  
Kagome at once felt a sense of smug satisfaction and a little regret for having snapped like that. Oh well. It was over and done with. She'd just have to work things out with Inuyasha later.  
  
"By the way," Sango said as if she just remembered something important, "I forgot to ask. Where are you staying Kagome?"  
  
"I'm over at Ravecroft Hall, room 223," she answered.  
  
Sango's eyes lit up immediately. "Well, how about that? We're roommates! They should have sent me a letter telling me you were coming, but I guess they lost it or something. I was starting to wonder when they were going to partner me with someone."  
  
Kagome felt more than a little excited. She and Sango were already becoming fast friends and now they would be dorming together. This was great!  
  
"Well, I suppose this means my visits at night are going to be even more interesting than usual," Miroku said with a smirk, causing Sango to turn beat red before she reached over and punched him in the side.  
  
Shippo noticed the look on Kagome's face and answered the unspoken question. "At the beginning of the year, Miroku left a message on Sango's phone telling her he'd be over that night to talk about putting together the news and review show, but she didn't check her voice mail. He came in just as she was finishing drying off from the shower, and I think the rest of the story pretty much writes itself."  
  
Miroku got a dreamy look on his face and Sango gave him another punch. Kagome couldn't help but giggle a little. This year was certainly going to be interesting.  
  
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Author's Notes: Well, that's chapter 1 of my new series. Updates on this are probably going to be a little slow as I focus on a few other projects I've been slacking off on (see above). Hope to hear from you all soon. 


	2. Putting on a Show

Author's Notes: Don't expect this level of speediness in the near future. I'm a little under the weather right now, so all I'm able to do is sit, think, and write.  
Rather than wait until the end of the story to do shout-outs to my reviewers, I'm just going to start doing it at the end of every chapter. Makes it less complicated.  
If any of you haven't noticed, I finally got that bonus up in Let the Music Be Your Master. It's in the chapter 22 space.  
Well, moving on...  
  
Lights, Camera, Action!  
  
Chapter 2- Putting On a Show  
  
Kagome combed her hair out in front of the mirror on her dresser as she and Sango got ready for bed. There was still something on her mind, though. "Sango?"  
  
The other girl looked up from her bed where she was reading a martial arts magazine. "What's up?"  
  
"You told me earlier that there was some kind of incident that made Kikyo break up with Inuyasha. What happened exactly?" It had been nagging at the back of her mind all night. Based on how hard Inuyasha seemed to be taking it, they must have been pretty close. So it would take one hell of an "incident" to break them up.  
  
Sango paused looking a little uncomfortable. "Actually, I think it would be better if you get that from Inuyasha when you two make peace. It's kind of a touchy subject and we all promised him we'd just give him some space and let him cope. To be honest, I shouldn't even have told you as much as I already have."  
  
Kagome was a little disappointed, but she knew that Sango was only doing this as a favor to her friend. She couldn't begrudge that. "Alright. What about Shippo and Miroku, by the way? What are they like?"  
  
Sango smiled softly and set her magazine down on her endtable. "Well, Shippo is a little prankster. He's always having fun. Just so you know, that whole innocent look he puts up is just an act. He's much smarter than he lets on."  
  
Kagome giggled a little at that. He was going to be fun to work with. She wondered if she might be able to help him out doing his comedy show. "And what about Miroku?"  
  
Sango frowned slightly at that. "He's a friend, but... good god, that man is so frustrating," she practically growled through clenched teeth. "He's a shameless flirt and I swear he sometimes can't tell the difference between right and wrong."  
  
Kagome was hardly expecting a response like that. "He can't be all bad can he?"  
  
She simply recieved a look from Sango that screamed 'Oh, it gets worse.'  
  
"He can?"  
  
"The problem is that he's got a lot of charm and a talent for smooth-talking people. And he knows it. And no matter what, he never seems to learn his lesson. In the four years we've known each other, he's never missed an opportunity to grope me."  
  
Kagome was more than a little surprised by that. "You've gotta be kidding... Right?"  
  
"I wish I was," Sango said with a huff. "I've threatened to sue him twice but he doesn't seem to get the message."  
  
"Then why don't you just put a stop to it once and for all? He shouldn't be allowed to get away with that."  
  
Sango just frowned and drew her knees up to her chest, hugging them. She wasn't in time to hide that blush on her face, though. "Or maybe you don't want to," Kagome said teasingly.  
  
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Sango asked with a raised eyebrow.  
  
"Maybe you don't want to stop him?" Kagome continued. This was just too rich.  
  
"Bullshit!" Sango snapped. "I just... I just wish there was something I could do about him. Argh, that man is so infuriating, I just can't figure him out!"  
  
This just kept getting better and better. "Nice dodge. Though you seem to think an awful lot about him."  
  
"I do not think he's cute!" Sango snapped before realizing her mistake.  
  
"I never said you thought he was cute, just that you seemed to think about him a lot." Well, this was fun, but Sango's temper looked about ready to blow. Better call it quits. That girl looked strong enough to snap Kagome over her knee. "Anyway, I'm calling it a night. Talk to you in the morning, Sango."  
  
Without looking back, Kagome hopped into bed and snuggled into the blanket. Tomorrow was going to be a lot of fun. She just had to see if she could succeed in keeping Miroku at bay and Inuyasha calm. Of course, she always did like a challenge.  
  
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In general, Kagome was a very punctual girl. Except for two things. Weekends and making guys wait when it amused her. Seeing as it was Saturday, she really had no intention of getting up before 11, which left her time to get a shower and get dressed to go to the studio. So you can imagine her surprise to be shaken awake by Sango at a time she knew was too early.  
  
"Kagome, get up! We're meeting the guys downstairs in an hour!"  
  
That got her attention. Kagome immediately sat up and looked at her alarm clock. Wait one minute... "Sango, it's 9:30. I thought you said we didn't have to be at the station until noon."  
  
Sango then gave an impish smile. "Yeah, but with you teasing me last night, I neglected to mention that we always meet for brunch on Saturdays at 10:30 to plan out the day. It's a tradition we've had since last year."  
  
Karma was a pain in the ass. Kagome squirmed out of bed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. This was going to take some getting used to.  
  
It was still early enough that the communal showers on her floor of the dorms were empty. Which was good because she liked to ease into a new setting before having to deal with sharing it with an abundance of people. A quick shower and a change of clothes later, and she decided to spend the remaining half-hour before she had to leave with Sango channel-surfing.  
  
It figured of course that nothing was on. "Sango?"  
  
Her roommate looked up at her from the bed where she was once again buried in a magazine. "What's up, Kagome?"  
  
"I just thought I'd ask something. Inuyasha... He doesn't seem like a bad guy. How do you think I can get him to quit being so hostile?"  
  
Sango half-smiled and rolled his eyes. "Try to be nice to him without getting in his face about it. And don't compliment him too often. He's terrible at taking compliments. That's all I can tell you for now. Out of curiosity, why are you so interested? He can't be the first guy you've ever met with a bad attitude."  
  
Kagome wasn't quite prepared to answer that question. "I guess it's just because we're going to be working together. I don't want him to be too much of a pain to be around."  
  
She didn't know if Sango would buy that, but the other girl simply half-smiled. "Yeah, I can understand that."  
  
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Miroku headed back to the table that was unofficially "theirs." The TV club had been there every Saturday as soon as the dining hall opened and sat at the same table. It got to the point where people just sort of gravitated to every other seat.  
  
Shippo was already seated with a light breakfast. Kagome and Sango weren't far behind. And Inuyasha was still piling his tray up. One of the good things about this college was that for each meal you payed for on your student ID, the only limit to the amount of food you could take was how much you could actually eat. And that meant Inuyasha could afford to stuff his face every Saturday and not have to worry about points or some other silly system.  
  
When all five people were gathered at the table, Miroku chose to speak first. "So guys, what do we have this week?"  
  
"Well," Sango began, "for news we have to make mention of this week's events. First there's the student gay pride picnic on Monday. There's jazz night at the pub on Tuesday. After that is Surf'n'Turf Night on Friday. And we might as well throw in a plug for Inuyasha. When did you say you're broadcasting?"  
  
Inuyasha looked up from a mouthful of pancakes, washing them down with a glass of milk. "Sunday at 10 PM," he said levelly.  
  
Miroku was impressed. After last night and now having to sit next to Kagome who had so successfully gotten his back up by standing up to him, Inuyasha was reasonably level-headed this morning. Better not comment on it though.  
  
Shippo picked up where Sango left off. "Also, the anime, X-Box, and D&D clubs are all having their first meetings this week, so we'll need to bring that up." One thing about Redrock was that it was heavily steeped in modern counterculture despite its old-fashioned exterior.  
  
"Not to mention the martial arts club just announced this morning that our first tournament is coming up in October," Inuyasha added.  
  
"Okay, good," Miroku said. "Anything else happening?" Everyone but Kagome simply shook their collective heads, and Kagome gave a very obvious look to say she had no idea what was going on around the campus yet. "Well, we'll just have to try and stretch that out for a half-hour."  
  
"Let me worry about that," Sango said from her seat. She continued picking at her blueberry muffin for a minute, which brought a few dirty thoughts to Miroku's mind before he shook his head to clear it. "What have we got for reviews?"  
  
"Well," Shippo started. "I saw I, Robot the other day. It sucked."  
  
"Shippo," Miroku said with a light roll of his eyes, "I don't think there's anyone at this table who didn't already figure that out."  
  
"Tell me something I don't know," Sango quipped with a smirk. "How about you Inuyasha?"  
  
"All I got this week is another CD," he said flatly. "Blind Guardian, Night at the Opera."  
  
Sango sighed with slight frustration. "Inuyasha, I don't want to rag on you or anything, but you never review anything a little more current. That album came out two years ago."  
  
Inuyasha just rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Fine. I'll go see The Village on opening night and review that. Happy?"  
  
"Yes," she said simply. "Miroku, what about you?"  
  
"I know I may sound a little like Inuyasha," Miroku started, which got him a raised middle finger and a stifled giggle from Kagome (which he noted for future reference), "but I finally got the Universal Studios Classic Monsters set off of e-Bay. I've spent the last week watching them. I just have to review that set."  
  
Sango paused thoughtfully for a minute. "Alright, but don't make a habit out of it."  
  
"You're only letting him because you want to watch those movies, too" Inuyasha said with a smirk.  
  
Sango blushed a little, much to Miroku's delight. He doubted anyone knew it, but he was slowly starting to become drawn toward Sango. It wasn't just another flirt. She was beautiful, athletic, smart, had a fighting spirit... and probably the best body he'd ever seen in his life. Unfortunately, Miroku realized that he was getting a little carried away and was leaning out of his seat a little too close to Sango and looking straight down her shirt.  
  
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Inuyasha looked up from his food at the sound of a loud whack and the dull thud of a body hitting the floor. Sango was once more looking pissed off and Miroku was trying to climb back into his seat. "You never learn, do you?" Inuyasha felt it a little hard to believe that Miroku never seemed to wise up despite his repeated maimings.  
  
"At least I can appreciate a good-looking woman," he countered calmly. Sango slapped him upside the head for that, but the years of beatings had given Miroku a high threshold for pain and he simply shrugged it off. "You on the other hand have one sitting right next to you and you haven't looked at her once."  
  
Inuyasha felt a slight recoil at that one. He glanced over at Kagome and their eyes met for a moment. For an instant, he felt himself captivated by those grey eyes. There was just something about her. Then he realized just what he was doing. They both blushed at once and looked back at their trays. Inuyasha decided to try and scramble for a recovery. "Unlike you, Miroku, I have some self-control."  
  
"Aha," Miroku said triumphantly, "so you do think Kagome is beautiful!"  
  
Damn him! "I didn't say that," Inuyasha snarled back.  
  
"But you didn't not say it, either," Miroku returned.  
  
Shippo thankfully butted in to stop it before things got worse. "Miroku, you may want to ease off. Inuyasha is almost as good at vengeance as me. Remember what he did to Cliff and his buddies last semester?"  
  
Inuyasha smirked at that as Miroku shuddered and nodded in acquiescence. That was one of his finer moments.  
  
"Who's Cliff?" Kagome asked.  
  
"Cliff Harris is on the football team," Shippo answered. "He was messing with Inuyasha last year, so he decided to get even. The team all lived on the same dorm floor. We just got one of our friends to open the door for us from the inside around dawn and Inuyasha snuck in with a pair of latex gloves, about a pound of tiger balm and another couple pounds of itching powder he bought off of me."  
  
"A little old-fashioned," Miroku commented, "smearing the tiger balm on the toilet seats and applying the itching powder to the toilet paper and all the door handles. But it was classic."  
  
"Totally classic," Shippo corrected.  
  
Inuyasha gave a high five to both of his male friends. Yes, that was truly something to remember. He had hung out in the commons of the dorm for another couple hours to hear his handiwork take effect. Too bad he didn't have a tape recorder right then.  
  
He was surprised to hear Kagome laughing beside him. He looked over to her as she tried to take a sip of orange juice to settle her laughter. "I'm sorry. Normally, I wouldn't be laughing at them like that, but that is just too good."  
  
Okay, maybe she wasn't so bad and those parakeets were going to start flying out of his ass.  
  
"By the way, Kagome," Sango cut in, "do you have anything you'd like to contribute to this week's review show?"  
  
Kagome shook her head slightly. "No, but if you guys are still interested, I have a few ideas for some shows I wanted to do."  
  
"Such as?" Inuyasha asked almost challengingly. He was a little surprised when Kagome reached into her back pocket and pulled out a handful of note cards and passed them around the table. Inuyasha got three. On each card was written a title for a show and a synopsis. As he looked through them, he felt his eyes drift back up to Kagome.  
  
"You came up with these?"  
  
"Yup," she said proudly. "Though I'm not the best writer. I'd need some help writing up new material for each one of these shows."  
  
"I think we can definately help you out there," Miroku said with a smile.  
  
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Sango continued looking through the four cards she was handed. She couldn't believe this. Maybe not all of these shows were feasible with the current budget, but Kagome was just what they needed. She snatched Miroku's three cards out of his hand and read over them as well. "Kagome, how soon do you think we can start working on these?"  
  
Kagome looked a little surprised by Sango's enthusiasm, but smiled proudly. "We can get to work on the writing today if you guys want."  
  
"Excellent!" Sango shouted, drawing a few stares from the enarby tables. But screw them, it wasn't their business. "Gentlemen," she said, addressing the other three boys, "I believe we've finally found our new Creative Director."  
  
Shippo and Miroku high-fived each other from across the table and even Inuyasha tried to hide a small smile by idly scratching at his jaw. She saw Kagome once more looking a little out of the loop. "You see, Kagome, one of the things we're doing to try and get our new budget for next semester approved is trying to make ourselves look more organized. So we gave each other titles. I'm Editor-in-Chief. Shippo is our Technical Director. Inuyasha is Talent. And Miroku is our Producer. We need a Creative Director to round things off, though, and you've just come in and filled that position for us."  
  
Kagome broke into a huge smile. "Oh that's great! Thank you Sango!"  
  
Sango had to laugh a little. "Hey, you're the one who just gave us stuff we can put on the air. Now, let's start planning this out. First we need to figure out which one will be the easiest to do and put the rest in ascending order. That way, we can figure out what we can create and how much time and effort we'll need."  
  
The five of them spent another hour planning things out. Even Inuyasha contributed, pointing out one show in particular that he wanted to do. This was so cool! One of Sango's dreams was to have her own TV station or film studio after graduation. Maybe with this group she could realize that dream.  
  
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Author's Notes: Well, there's another one done. Believe it or not, the setting of Redrock College is based on my own school in Maryland. I hate big universities.  
  
Anyway, I said I would give a quick shout-out to my reviewers. All three of them.  
  
Cynical Chaos: Thank you. I'm hoping to get them better than I did in Let the Music Be Your Master. A lot of screw-ups in that one.  
  
Em Starcatcher: Remember the male ego. Be careful not to inflate me too much. ;)  
  
Araine: Thank you for the praise, though I have to say that you haven't figured me out. I won't be doing something like that. You're free to keep guessing, though. 


	3. Take 1

Author's Notes. Still sick. Still bored. Still writing. Hopefully the doctor's appointment I have coming up will shed some light on all this.  
  
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Lights, Camera, Action!  
  
Chapter 3- Take 1  
  
The week had gone by slower than Kagome thought she could bear. She was pleased to find out that she was in the same Fiction Into Film class as Sango and Inuyasha. That made things a little more bearable. Don't get the wrong idea, she was happy with her classes. But she was so eager to get to work on these TV projects. Miroku seemed to have taken a hint after the first couple of days and didn't make any moves on her. Though to compensate he seemed to go into overdrive on Sango. She almost felt sorry for him with all those extra beatings he was getting. Almost.  
  
Kagome also learned that Shippo was still a freshman. The reason he knew so much about the school was because his mother was a biology professor there, meaning he had been familiar with the campus for years and he got to attend for free. Lucky stiff.  
  
Other than Fiction Into Film, Kagome hadn't had much contact with Inuyasha. And he was usually pretty tight-lipped. At least he wasn't snapping like when they first met. Now he just seemed to be distant and strangely independent half of the time, and sarcastic and contrary the rest. She did notice that a couple of girls seemed to find his angst attractive, though. Of course, she thought that was kind of silly. Why would you want a boyfriend like that? He wasn't a bad guy, per se. But he just seemed so shut off from the rest of the world. That and he seemed to take an unusual amount of pleasure in arguing with people. His friends were the only ones he really seemed to act "normal" around.  
  
Not that that mattered today. It was Saturday afternoon. They had just wrapped up the news and reviews and were getting ready to work on the first of their new shows. They had all decided to start with only two and build up from there. Today the focus was on Kagome's first show, Ace Spade: Private Eye. It was at once a homage and a satire of hardboiled detectives and film noir. Inuyasha was playing the title character.  
  
Kagome sat in the director's booth with her copy of the script in her hands and Shippo at the sound board and editing machine. "Okay, Inuyasha, let's do the first take on the opening narrative."  
  
"Right," he said from out in the studio, holding up a microphone under his throat. "Just give me a signal."  
  
Kagome smiled softly for a minute as his violet eyes continued scanning the script. He may have been a little moody, but he was a good actor. She tapped the window to give him his cue.  
  
"My name is Adrian Spade," he started, letting his voice rumble out of his chest a little more than usual and taking on a very serious tone. "Friends call me Ace. I'm one of millions of people in this city. And one of only a handful who work to keep it clean. I'm what they call a private dick. The job is mostly thankless and dangerous... but it's a living. It ain't boring, I'll tell you that. You get a lot of good stories here on the streets. This... is one of them."  
  
"Okay, cut," Kagome said as soon as Inuyasha was finished. "That was great Inuyasha," she said, smiling at him through the window. He glanced at her, but just continued looking at the script. Kagome couldn't help but feel a little disappoined. He was in another of those moods again. "Come on in and we'll hear how it sounded."  
  
He switched off the microphone and walked inside as Shippo messed with the editing machine for a second.  
  
"By the way," Kagome said conversationally, "I never got a chance to tell you, Inuyasha, but Sango and I heard your radio show last Sunday."  
  
"Really?" he asked, looking up at her from the seat he had taken. "What'd you think?"  
  
"Normally, I'm not a heavy metal fan," Kagome admitted. "But I did like that one song... what was it... Samurai!"  
  
"Oh yeah," Inuyasha replied, amusement reaching his eyes. It was the first time Kagome had ever seen that. "Samurai by the Michael Schenker Group. That's one of my favorites."  
  
"Cool name, by the way," Shippo remarked. He then rubbed his throat and did his best impersonation of Inuyasha. "For the next two hours, you will face the heat. Welcome to... The Forge!" He then made a motion like swinging a hammer and imitated the noise of a hammer hitting an anvil. "That was awesome."  
  
Inuyasha just smirked and leaned back in his chair with one arm over the back. "Your damn right it was."  
  
Kagome had to stifle a little laugh at that. He was kind of cute with his male ego being placated. Wait, where did that come from? Well... okay, Kagome wouldn't deny it, he was pretty good-looking. There was certainly no problem with acknowledging that. Just so long as he didn't know that.  
  
"Okay, we got it," Shippo said, interrupting her thoughts. "Let's hear it and see what you think." With that, he clicked the "PLAY" button and the three of them listened to the audio clip playback through the speakers.  
  
"That was great!" Kagome said excitedly. "We'll have to do another one for protection, of course, but I think we nailed it. What do you think, Inuyasha?"  
  
"I don't know about you guys," he said with a chuckle, "but I love listening to the sound of my own voice."  
  
Everyone had a good laugh at that. Shippo rolled his eyes after a moment and muttered "Narcissist."  
  
"Mutant," Inuyasha shot back.  
  
Kagome supressed the last of her laughter and cleared her throat. "Okay. Let's just make that protection recording and then we'll get the cameras when we're done or when Sango and Miroku show up. Whichever occurs first."  
  
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Sango and Miroku had gone out to the pub to get everyone some coffee. Naturally, nothing between those two could be simple. On the occassions that anything they did together went smoothly, one half-expected a jackalope to go by while reading a newspaper declaring that a two-headed calf had been born.  
  
In this particular incident, Sango wasn't feeling too pleased with herself. As they walked back to the studio, she couldn't help but remember how it had all happened for the eighth time in half as many minutes.  
  
She and Miroku had been at the pub, getting the coffee. Instead of groping her, he had been verbally attacking this time. She had no idea you could put that many double entendres into a single sentence. But it was still better than his wondering hands. When they finally got their coffee, he offered to carry the little cardboard travelling tray they were in while she immediately reached for hers to take a sip.  
  
Here's where things started to go downhill. As soon as they had left the pub, Miroku's hands began wondering again. He somehow managed to balance the tray with one hand and reached his other down to firmly grope her butt. The thing is, Sango had been taking martial arts since she was old enough to walk. And she had known Miroku for four years. She was accustomed to action without thought. And with that in mind, she was once again pissed off and focused only on the reflexive action of giving Miroku his due punishment. The only problem with that was that her right hand was still holding the coffee. And when she backhanded him in the chest, snapping her hand back after impact to make sure it would sting, the lid popped off and half the contents of the cup spilled down the front of his shirt.  
  
It only took half a second before Miroku's eyes widened and he dropped everything, including himself, to the ground with a scream loud enough to rattle the windows. Sango just looked down in shock at the realization of what she'd done and turned bright red. That blush only deepened when Miroku quickly became lucid enough to realize he had to pull his shirt off before the hot liquid scalded him. It was an odd situation. On one hand, Sango was a little emberassed to see him shirtless. He did have a really nice body. On the other, she felt guilty upon seeing the bright red marks all over his front.  
  
When Miroku lay still for a moment, staring up at the ceiling and obviously still in pain, Sango knelt down beside him. "M-Miroku? Are you okay?"  
  
"Give me a minute," he said flatly. "For the moment I just wanna lie here."  
  
Sango was still blushing fiercely. "I'm just going to go get some replacements. You gonna be okay?"  
  
"Yeah. Let's just hope nobody chooses to walk by in the next minute or two. They might get the wrong idea."  
  
As they walked back to the studio in silence, Sango couldn't stand to even make eye contact with Miroku. He seemed to be taking it well despite the fact that his bare chest was still bright red, but she couldn't believe she had done something like that. "I'm so sorry," she said for fifth time since leaving the pub.  
  
Miroku just glanced over at her as he kept walking. "It's okay. It was an accident. We all make dumb mistakes sometimes. Like me. I do enough stupid shit in one day for the both of us."  
  
Guilt sucked. It was harder than it seemed to make it go away. "Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?" She knew she was going to regret this, but for once she did owe the poor bastard. If nothing else, it would level out her karma.  
  
"Well..." Miroku turned thoughtful for a moment.  
  
Here it comes. He was either going to ask her to sleep with him or bear his child, to which she immediately would respond with a demand for a more reasonable request, and then would come his puppy-dog eyes and fake hurt voice, and then-  
  
"How about I take a day or two to heal, and we meet at the pub sometime this week? Just the two of us."  
  
Sango looked up at him in surprise. This wasn't very much like Miroku. "That's all?"  
  
"That's all," he assured her. "No catch. No strings attached. Although if you could do me one favor..."  
  
Ah, figures. He would be back to his old self any second now.  
  
"If you could wear that pink ribbed turtleneck sweater you have that night, I'd appreciate it. I just really like that one." He almost sounded guilty when he said that.  
  
That was three times in one hour that Sango had been caught off-guard. She looked at Miroku curiously. She was beginning to wonder if he was in more pain than he let on and it was making him delirious.  
  
He just looked down at her with an innocent look of confusion. "Something wrong?"  
  
How the hell did he do that? Not only did he have the best pokerface Sango had ever seen, but he could shift gears so quickly and easily. "No, no, I'm fine... Alright. Give me a call when you're feeling up to... going out." She hesitated as she said that. It sounded suspiciously like something else. And of course the little voice in the back of her mind was mocking her for it.  
  
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Inuyasha checked himself in the mirror. He was in costume now. Black slacks and a dress shirt with suspenders, tie, and jacket under a tan trench coat and fedora. "Damn, I look good in this outfit." Unfortunately, it was being borrowed from the theater department who agreed to supply the TV club with any and all costumes and props they may need. He placed a toothpick in his mouth to finish off the look. Kagome had already considered a cigarette, but Inuyasha wasn't too keen on the idea, having finally kicked the habit last year. Fortunately, she was understanding.  
  
She really wasn't that bad. Kind of cute, too. He glanced over to see her back was turned. She was looking into the booth talking to Shippo, and Inuyasha took a moment to check her out. Miroku was right. She really was beautiful. He doubted she'd go for a guy like him, but there was really no harm in looking. Then again, why was he thinking that? That was wierd.  
  
The sound of footsteps behind him drew his attention back to the door of the studio. "'Bout time," he said in his usual challenging tone. "What kept you guy-holy shit!" Miroku was shirtless with first-degree burns all over his chest and Sango was looking absolutely mortified. "What the fuck happened to you?!"  
  
Inuyasha heard Kagome gasp behind him and a squeak from Shippo that sounded like some sort of expletive or another.  
  
"I'd really rather not talk about it," Miroku said softly. He handed Inuyasha the drinks and laid down on his back on the couch while Sango merely sat across from him trying not to make eye contact with anyone.  
  
"Yeah," Inuyasha said after a drawn-out, awkward silence, stretching the "y" out a little. "So... are we ready to shoot the opening sequence?"  
  
"Huh?" Kagome seemed to snap out of a trance. "Oh, sure. But we won't be able to film the first episode until it's rainy. So we'll have to wait for a storm."  
  
"Or Godot," Shippo remarked. "You know, whichever comes first." To explain himself, he snatched up a copy of the paper from the desk and pointed to the five day forecast which predicted a sunny week. Oh, hell. This might be a little harder than previously thought.  
  
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Inuyasha had insisted on being the one to drive them into town to do the shooting. The problem was that he seemed to have absolutely no idea that speeding was bad. Shippo gripped the door and his seatbelt for dear life. The camera, tripod, and microphone were all in the trunk, so at least those were in relative safety. More than could be said for the passengers. Sango and Miroku had opted to stay behind and go to the McDougan House which was where the campus medical staff worked. Lucky stiffs.  
  
"Inuyasha!" Kagome shrieked. "Slow down! You almost hit that guy back there!"  
  
"He should've taken the crosswalk when the light was red," Inuyasha said nonchalantly.  
  
"He did! And the light was red!"  
  
"No it wasn't." Inuyasha simply kept up his breakneck driving.  
  
"Yes, it was!" Kagome insisted.  
  
Inuyasha scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah right."  
  
"It was red!" Kagome continued. She hadn't seemed to have caught on yet that there was no point in trying to reason with Inuyasha over this.  
  
"I didn't see it," Inuyasha said dismissively.  
  
"That's no excuse! You're supposed to keep your eyes on the road and pay attention to the signs!" Kagome argued before she squeaked in dismay at being roughly tossed in her seat from a sharp turn.  
  
Inuyasha just grunted out something unintelligable and turned on the radio. Shippo felt his head spinning from the deafening blast out of the subwoofers.  
  
"System of a Down. Awesome!" That was Inuyasha for you. If it had melody and distorted guitars, he probably listened to it. Though Shippo really wished that he could have picked a radio station that was playing something less punishing.  
  
"Turn it down!" Kagome shouted over the music, trying to cover her ears and grip onto something at once.  
  
"I thought you wanted me to watch the road?" Inuyasha asked with feigned innocence and a sarcastic smirk. Shippo knew that the bastard was enjoying this way too much.  
  
Kagome let out an irritated shriek and switched the radio off. Shippo wondered if her ears were ringing like his from the abrupt silence.  
  
The screech of tires and the strong centrifugal force signalled Inuyasha's signature approach to parallel parking. When the car came to a stop, he rolled down his window and stuck his head out, looking down to see his distance from the curb. He then pulled his head back in and smirked. "Damn, I'm good."  
  
Inuyasha hopped out of the car as if this whole trip had been just a walk in the park. Shippo on the other hand was still feeling a little weak in the knees and Kagome looked a little pale. He took a minute to look around before he noticed something. "Inuyasha, we can't park here. The sign says that-"  
  
"The sign can kiss my ass," Inuyasha interrupted as he popped the trunk. "We're not gonna be here long, so just relax." He quickly slipped on his trenchcoat and fedora and placed the toothpick in his mouth. "What do you think?" he asked, striking a pose.  
  
"You're a handsome devil," Kagome said as she straightened herself out. "And I do mean 'devil.'"  
  
"I prefer hellion or demon," Inuyasha replied with a smirk. "Or sexy beast."  
  
Kagome just rolled her eyes and helped Shippo set the camera up. To be honest, Shippo was having a hard time telling if Kagome and Inuyasha were arguing or flirting. Inuyasha was being his usual sarcastic self with puerile wit and joking egotism. But he seemed to actually enjoy these little arguments with Kagome. It was almost as if he went out of his way to argue with her when he wasn't being moody. This would require further investigation, but it was an intriguing theory.  
  
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Shooting the opening sequence was relatively easy. Inuyasha was getting a good grasp over how his character should behave. And despite all their arguing earlier, he actually listened to Kagome's direction. They finished the final shot with Inuyasha pulling the brim of his fedora down over his eyes. "Alright, cut. Great. We've got everything we need, guys. Let's pack up."  
  
Inuyasha took off the fedora and quickly fanned himself with it. "You got my good side, right?" he joked, putting on a very snooty and haughty look and stance.  
  
"Your what now?" Shippo shot back with a smirk. Inuyasha would have flipped him off again if Kagome hadn't put her two cents in.  
  
"I wasn't aware that a sexy beast had a bad side." Now that was what he liked to hear. Inuyasha hadn't quite figured out why yet, but arguing with Kagome was kind of fun. For the past several days, they had often broken into arguments about the most inane or irrelevant topics imaginable. Even in the car when she was getting pissed at him, he thought he heard a hint of amusement in her voice somewhere.  
  
"Why don't you take a closer look and find out." He then gave her an evil grin, which brought forth a gasp and wide eyes. What was she making a big deal about?  
  
"Inuyasha... what's with your teeth?" Kagome asked, still a little startled.  
  
"What, do I have something in them?" He immediately reached up and rubbed his teeth a little.  
  
"No, I mean... you have fangs!" Oh, that's right! He had never grinned enough to show her his teeth before.  
  
"Oh, those." He grinned again, showing off his fangs. "After graduation I thought of getting a tattoo, but instead decided to have my dentist just sharpen these."  
  
Kagome stared at him in surprise for a moment. "Wouldn't that cost an arm and a leg?"  
  
Inuyasha just shrugged. "My family's reasonably well off. Can't say my dad liked the idea too much, but he got over it."  
  
"Ahem!" They were taken out of their conversation by Shippo's annoyed voice. "I'm still waiting to hear something along the lines of 'Here, Shippo, let me get that for you.'" As it was, he was trying to carry the camera, tripod, and microphone back to the car himself.  
  
Inuyasha just quirked a brow and smirked for an answer while Kagome got the tripod. They all walked back to the car in silence and drove off as they came: in a blur.  
  
Inuyasha glanced down at the digital clock on the radio when they were about half-way to campus. "Damn. 7:30 already. You guys want to stop somewhere for dinner?"  
  
"Ooh!" Shippo seemed to have momentarily forgotten his terror at that. "How about Rudy's?"  
  
"Fuck yeah!" Inuyasha shouted in agreement. "I haven't eaten there since last semester."  
  
"What's Rudy's?" Kagome asked, opening one eye as she held her seatbelt like a lifeline.  
  
"It's a 50's style diner," Shippo answered. "They've got the best fountain drinks in town."  
  
It only took another couple of minutes before the arrived at the diner. It was a rail-car shaped building with faux-chrome siding, large round windows, and a big neon sign over the entrance that said "Rudy's Diner" in red retro letters.  
  
The trio all walked in together and stood up front to wait for a server. "What do you guys recommend?" Kagome asked conversationally.  
  
"Just take a look at the menu," Shippo answered. "There's all kinds of stuff here. It's really hard to pick."  
  
"Shippo!" came an excited shout. Inuyasha looked over to see a girl in her late teens with long blonde hair and red-brown eyes wearing a restaurant uniform.  
  
"Hey, Kirara!" Shippo answered back. "Why didn't you tell me you were working here?"  
  
"Sorry," she answered with a smile. "I've just been really busy lately with classes and everything." She turned her eyes to the rest of the group. "Hey, Inuyasha, what's with the Humphry Bogart get-up?"  
  
Inuyasha simply pointed to Kagome with a half-smile.  
  
"She your girlfriend?" Kirara asked innocently.  
  
Inuyasha immediately felt a slight warmth come to his face. "No! She's uh..."  
  
Kagome lightly slapped his arm with the back of her hand and smiled. "I'm Kagome Higurashi. I just transferred to the school last week."  
  
"Oh, you're Kagome! Shippo told me a couple days ago that you were joining the TV club." A light cough from behind Kirara and she flushed slightly, looking back to see a rather irritated manager.  
  
"Oh! Sorry, sir." She smiled nervously before he walked off. Kirara then turned back to the others. "Sorry. Come on, I'll get you guys a table."  
  
"Non-smoking," Inuyasha remarked as she started toward the smoking section.  
  
"Oh right, you quit last year," Kirara remarked. "I'd almost forgotten, it's been so long since I've seen you guys." She then led them to a booth with a window facing the street. She gave them three menus and smiled. "I'll be back in a minute." With that, she strode off with Shippo watching her go with a little smile on his face.  
  
"I think after we get our drinks we should get a bucket of cold water to dump on him," Inuyasha said to Kagome.  
  
Kagome giggled a little and glanced at Shippo over her menu. "Does he have a little crush on her?"  
  
Inuyasha just rolled his eyes. "We're talking about him as if he isn't here, and he has yet to notice. What do you think?"  
  
It was kind of annyoing really. It wasn't that Inuyasha didn't like Kirara. On the contrary, she was a good friend and had been for a couple years now ever since Sango introduced her. But the way she and Shippo constantly drooled over each other without ever actually making any moves was starting to get on his nerves.  
  
Kagome had a very thoughtful, almost impish grin on her face when Inuyasha looked back to her. "What are you planning?"  
  
She chuckled softly and looked up at him, causing Inuyasha to once again feel that heat in his face which he had to use every ounce of willpower he had from his training as an actor to push back down. How the hell did she do that? "I've always wanted to play matchmaker. Now I've got two couples to meddle with."  
  
Inuyasha just raised a brow and tried to keep the grin contained to a smirk. This girl was nowhere near as innocent as she let on. And though it took a lot of mental battles throughout the rest of the night, he was finally able to admit, at least to himself... he thought it was pretty hot.  
  
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Author's Notes: Yeah, I just had to put Kirara in again, didn't I? I decided to go for a different incarnation this time while still keeping some of the elements I thought were pretty close from Let the Music Be Your Master. It just seemed like a fun challenge.  
  
Anyway, my reviewers...  
  
Mimiko: Don't get too used to this pace. I'm having a creative spike, and those don't last long. I'm just trying to milk it for everything its worth. But thanks for the compliment on the character interaction. It's one element I've really been focusing on honing as I continue writing, as I feel it's one of my strengths.  
  
bluefuzzyelf: Yeah, I figured that without certain events, Inuyasha wouldn't really hold the grudge very long. At first, I wrote him acting normal as if out of spite to say that being dumped didn't bother him. But now... well I think we can all tell that he really is starting to loosen up by now.  
  
Araine: Congratulations, you have just discovered one of my weaknesses. Though "bribe" is a strong word. I prefer to think of it as "incentive," wink, wink.  
  
Father Malvado: I agree. TV sucks. Except Adult Swim.  
  
lilly: Mostly what stops us is that we have very limited attention spans. 


	4. A Night to Remember

Author's Notes: Let me take a moment to pay tribute to one of the greatest chemicals ever: caffeine. When you have lots of caffeine, your brain goes into overdrive. And you get all kinds of ideas. The only bad thing about caffeine is that is in fact chemically addictive. And the only thing worse than being addicted to caffeine is going through the withdrawal. Take it from the voice of experience. Caffeine is a fickle and chaotic mistress.  
  
Lights, Camera, Action!  
  
Chapter 4- A Night to Remember  
  
Inuyasha heaved a sigh, gave up trying to study and looked to Miroku. "Dude, look... I know you're excited about this and everything, but you've been obsessing! You've been playing Wonderful Tonight in a loop for the past hour! I like Clapton too, but the man can't sing! Turn it off already!"  
  
Miroku righted his chair and looked guiltily at Inuyasha. "Sorry. By the way, which would you recommend: Axe deodorant, or just some sandalwood cologne?"  
  
Inuyasha just growled in frustration. "What the fuck are you asking me for? For one thing, I'm not a chick. Second, you know I hate artificial smells anyway. You're lucky I let you keep those things in here. And do something about the damn music already!"  
  
"Fine," Miroku said defensively, "I'll change it."  
  
Inuyasha went back to his notes as he saw Miroku turn to his computer. Wonderful Tonight stopped playing and there were a few seconds of silence before Tush by ZZ Top started playing. Inuyasha dropped his head into his hands before looking back at his rommate through the corner of his eye. He liked it better when Miroku was being sappy instead of... well... his usual self. "On second thought, put Clapton back on."  
  
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As much as Kagome wanted to play matchmaker, this was getting on her nerves. Sango would not stop fussing over her appearance. "Really, you look the best with your hair down."  
  
"Are you sure? And I'm still not sure about this skirt." Sango continued to mess with her hair and turning around in front of the mirror. The only thing she was secure with was the sweater and that's because Miroku had wanted her to wear it.  
  
"Yes, I'm sure," Kagome said forcefully. She put her hands on Sango's shoulders to steady her. "Just sit down and relax. He said he'd meet you at the pub in fifteen minutes, so just take it easy."  
  
Sango wrung her hands for a minute as she sat down on her bed. "I was thinking of wearing a little jasmine. What do you think?"  
  
Kagome raised an eyebrow at that. "Sango, it's not like he's taking you out to a fancy restaurant or something. Save the good tricks for later. Make him work for it."  
  
Sango turned bright red and tried hard not to meet Kagome's eyes. It was fun watching her squirm. "What makes you think I'd want to go out with him again? I'm only doing this to make up for the coffee incident."  
  
"Keep telling yourself that," Kagome teased earning her a sharp glare.  
  
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Miroku stood outside the pub in a pair of khaki cargo pants and a black V-neck shirt. He wanted to look good without really overdressing. He idly fiddled with one of his earrings, hoping Sango wouldn't show up too late. Just about every woman he had ever known seemed to have a thing for making guys wait. And this waiting was killing him. This was the first time he had really gotten a chance to be serious with Sango. It was important he not screw this up.  
  
He looked up and around, waiting for Sango just as she came around the corner. She was wearing the pink turtleneck like he'd asked along with a black denim skirt. He didn't know exactly why, but seeing her in black and pink made her look really damn sexy. "Evening," he said smoothly. Miroku was quite thankful that composure came easily to him. The last thing he needed was to lose his head.  
  
Sango smiled at him nervously. "Hi. So, should we go in?"  
  
Miroku smiled softly and motioned for her to go first. "Pick out a table at the cafe. It's usually deserted this time of day. I'll be over at the counter. Is there anything I can get you?"  
  
As she walked through the door, Sango paused to think a moment. "How about... just a raspberry smoothie with whipped cream."  
  
"Consider it done." So far so good.  
  
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Meanwhile, Inuyasha was finally making some progress on his studying. The test was tomorrow and Horror Fiction was one subject that he had absolutely no excuse for not totally kicking ass at. That was when his cell phone decided to start ringing.  
  
Inuyasha felt the strong temptation to pick it up and then hang up again and throw it out the window, but instead just took a deep breath and answered it. "Talk to me."  
  
"Inuyasha?"  
  
"Kagome?" What was she calling for?  
  
"Are you busy at the moment?"  
  
"Kinda sorta maybe."  
  
"Well can you spare a couple minutes?"  
  
Inuyasha half-sighed, half-growled and tossed his highlighter down as he slouched into his chair. "What do you want?"  
  
"Oh, just for you to take a walk with me down to the pub," Kagome answered a little too innocently. Wait a second...  
  
"Kagome, this is not a movie. Spying on Miroku and Sango is not going to make things any worse or better for them. Besides, it's none of our business."  
  
"Oh, come on, Inuyasha," she urged. "It'll be fun."  
  
"About as fun as a root canal. No."  
  
"You can help do something nice for your friends."  
  
"How about I just send them a card instead?" This woman did not give up easily.  
  
"Just think of how cute they'll be together."  
  
"In the words of Daffy Duck, cute like a stomach pump."  
  
Kagome paused on the other end for a moment and Inuyasha began to wonder if maybe he had won this time. "I'll give you twenty bucks," she said at last.  
  
"Deal." She won. "Though I still don't get why this is so important to you."  
  
"You're a guy. I don't expect you to get it, just to go along with it."  
  
Inuyasha couldn't help but look at the phone in surprise at that one. He had never heard a girl say anything like that before. He actually had to respect that.  
  
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Five minutes later and Kagome was hiding behind a divider and peering into the cafe where Miroku and Sango were seated. Inuyasha sat cross-legged beside her looking grouchy.  
  
"If they're not making out in five minutes, can we go?" he whined.  
  
"No. Shut up." Why couldn't guys have a stronger romantic side? They just didn't seem to appreciate these sorts of things.  
  
Kagome heard Inuyasha groan behind her a moment later and drop his head back against the divider. She looked back at him questioningly, and he just pointed to the speakers above. "What?"  
  
"This song. Miroku was playing it for a god damn hour before he came down here. Now it's stuck in my head and the only way I can get it out again is to force it out with a bullet." To try and embellish, he held out his hand in the shape of a gun and pressed it to his temple as he spoke.  
  
Kagome just slapped his shoulder. "Quit whining. Tell you what, if nothing happens in ten minutes, we can leave." As much as she wanted to stick around, Kagome was worried that Inuyasha's complaining was going to tip off Miroku and Sango to their presence.  
  
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The cafe really was a relaxing little place. Soft lighting, wrought iron chairs and tables with soft cushions and faux-stone surfaces. On weekends the place was packed for Saturday poetry slams and last minute study sessions. But on a Wednesday evening like this, no one was around. It did have kind of a romantic air to it.  
  
Sango would never admit it to anyone else, but there was a part of her that really did like Miroku. For all of his faults, he really did have a softer side. If he could just control those hands of his, she'd be a lot more willing to give him a chance. Of course, he had ample opportunity thus far to grope her and he hadn't done anything. He seemed to be on his best behavior.  
  
As if on cue, Miroku took a seat across from her at the table, setting down her smoothie in front of her. He had gotten a blueberry one for himself. "Here you go, my dear."  
  
Sango flushed a little and took a sip to try and hide her face. "Thank you." It felt a little awkward. He wasn't acting like his usual self tonight. It was kind of charming though. Before an awkward silence could set in, she decided to say something. "You're being awfully sweet tonight."  
  
Miroku just smiled softly. "I just want you to enjoy yourself tonight." For once there was no innuendo in his speech. There was no perverted look in his eyes. He was being sincere.  
  
Sango couldn't help but smile back. She wasn't sure who moved first, but after a moment of staring into his eyes, she realized that he was holding one of her hands in his own.  
  
He slowly looked up at the ceiling for a second and chuckled. "What is it?" she asked.  
  
Miroku just smiled again. "This song. I've been playing it all night, thinking of you."  
  
Sango felt her heart pounding. She practically melted when he started softly singing along.  
  
"It's late in the evening/She's wondering what clothes to wear/She puts on her make-up/And brushes her long dark hair/And then she asks me 'Do I look alright?'/And I say 'Yes, you look wonderful tonight.'"  
  
Why couldn't he be more like this all the time? She squeezed his hand lightly, completely forgetting the heat in her face, and smiled.  
  
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Miroku was feeling lighter than air. He had always wanted to see that dreamy, happy look in Sango's eyes. They slowly leaned in closer and Miroku reached out to cup her cheek in his other hand. They both heard it, though. Two familiar voices hissing at each other from around the corner and behind the divider. That killed the mood in a hurry. "Sango, my dear, could you hold that thought for just one moment?"  
  
With that, he stood up and stalked to the divider. He would get them back for this later. He leaned against the divider on his forearms and peered down to see Kagome and Inuyasha sitting there trying to whisper and argue at the same time. "Can you be helped," Miroku said flatly.  
  
They both looked up at him in surprise. Inuyasha immediately pointed to Kagome and said "Her idea." She backhanded him in the stomach for it, but they both took a hint from Miroku's uncharacteristically dark glare and scrambled out of the pub.  
  
He sighed and turned back to Sango. "Well... now what?"  
  
Sango grabbed their smoothies and walked over to him, knowing as well as he did that the mood had been completely ruined. They would have to talk to Shippo about arranging suitable vengeance.  
  
After an awkward silence, Sango took one of his hands in her own and looked into his eyes. "How about we just go for a walk for a while?"  
  
Miroku smiled back. Might as well make the most of what was left of the evening.  
  
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As soon as they were outside the college center, Kagome and Inuyasha leaned up against the wall and sighed in unison. That was emberassing. "Smooth, Inuyasha. I told you to keep quiet."  
  
"Me?!" he indignantly shouted. "I didn't even want to be there. It wasn't any of my business or yours. Besides, I'm not the one with a high, squeaky voice."  
  
"You're right. You're the one whose voice has no volume control." And they were at it again. This time it really wasn't so trivial.  
  
"Look, you were the one who decided to be a bitch and drag me into this!"  
  
"You were the one who agreed to a bribe! I guess your morals have a price!"  
  
"At least I have them!" Big mistake.  
  
Kagome gave Inuyasha a full-armed slap upside the face. "Don't you dare talk to me about morality! You seem to have almost no regard for anyone but yourself! You're always either shutting people out by coldly ignoring them or pushing them away by being a jerk! Don't think I've forgotten the way you treated me when we first met!"  
  
Things were rapidly devolving into a screaming match. It got to the point where Kagome didn't even know what it was she was saying anymore. She just didn't want Inuyasha getting the last word.  
  
Their fight came to an abrupt end however when he clapped his hand over her mouth and held up a finger for her to be silent. "Hold it, a sec!"  
  
They listened in silence for a moment when they saw one of Campus Safety's trucks coming around the bend into the parking lot. "Oh shit," Inuyasha growled. "I don't have my student ID."  
  
Kagome gasped. "I don't have mine either." The college was apparently getting really strict about that. If you were caught moving around campus after dark without an ID, there was a stiff fine. Kind of stupid, but that wasn't the point right now.  
  
Inuyasha looked back to Kagome. "Let's get the hell out of here."  
  
She nodded and they both raced back into the college center and ducked into the nearby elevator. They just had to avoid any staff for a while and get back to the dorms. Inuyasha hit the button to go up one floor. Like several other buildings such as Regis Hall, the college center was built into a slope. The back that Kagome and Inuyasha had gone through was a floor below the lobby exit which was closer to the dorms.  
  
An awkward silence filled the air as neither one of them wanted to speak. Kagome was left with a bitter taste in her mouth over that argument. She'd wait until Inuyasha cooled down to try and make ammends.  
  
As if reading her thoughts, she heard him clear his throat beside her. "Uh... look, Kagome..." his voice was soft and a little nervous, but he didn't have a chance to finish speaking.  
  
The elevator lurched suddenly, throwing the two of them off balance. "What's going on?" Kagome asked desperately. She suddenly felt as if gravity had ceased to exist. But in the next instant, she felt Inuyasha trip her and pull her down to the floor with him. Kagome felt one of his arms covering her head and for a moment, everything seemed so unreal. Her heart had practically stopped in fear, and she felt almost weightless. A sharp shock ran throughout her entire body and in the next instant, everything went black.  
  
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Author's Notes: Ooh, cliffhanger. I'm a bastard, I know. I thought I'd experiment to see how effectively I could switch moods within a chapter.  
  
Anyway, my reviewers...  
  
Mimiko: I was wondering who would catch the "Ace Spade" joke first. Go buy yourself a cookie.  
  
Father Malvado: Actually yes. I have ADD and major depression. Having both at once really, really sucks, let me tell you.  
  
Kagome-Sama0560: Just be patient. All will be revealed in time.  
  
Em Starcatcher: How's that for a nice Sango/Miroku scene?  
  
Kagome M.K.: Is this soon enough. ;) Like I said, try not to get too used to it.  
  
bluefuzzyelf: Believe it or not, that costume/diner thing was by accident. I came up with the diner because about a quarter-mile from my campus there's a diner like that called Plum Crazy.  
  
sesshomaru-luver: Well, my curiosity's hooked.  
  
Divine-Red-Crayon: Thank you. Though this is just the first act, so the really meaty stuff has yet to come. 


	5. Promises and Meetings

Author's Notes: And I sit down to write some more. I wish I had more to say, but it's been a really uneventful week.  
  
Lights, Camera, Action!  
  
Chapter 5- Promises and Meetings  
  
Kagome felt like she was swimming in darkness. She vaguely heard a voice, but it sounded like it was trying to get through a mound of cotton. She felt something touch her face and slowly but surely her vision came back. At first, all she could see were shadows. Then shapes and colors started to form. She blinked a few times to try and clear her eyes and realized she was lying face down on the floor. Inuyasha was kneeling beside her and trying to wake her. The weak light in the room came from a tiny flashlight Inuyasha had on a keychain. "Inuyasha?" she asked groggilly as if trying to confirm to herself that she was awake. "What's going on?"  
  
"The elevator collapsed. This one works on hydraulics, not cables. Piece of shit." As he helped her up, the memories came rushing back to Kagome, hitting her like a fist.  
  
For a moment, Kagome felt numb. As it all set in, she felt the tears coming. Her body shook with the first few sobs.  
  
Inuyasha noticed immediately. "Wait... Kagome hold on..."  
  
No good. She collapsed into him and started crying. He was tense at first, but slowly eased up and wrapped his arms around her. "Kagome, please... Stop crying," he pleaded desperately. "Come on, we're okay. No, no... please stop..."  
  
"I'm sorry," Kagome sobbed into his shoulder. "I just... I was so scared..."  
  
"It's okay." Inuyasha clearly wasn't very comfortable with trying to comfort her. "You just got knocked out for a couple minutes... Look, you don't have to worry... You don't ever have to be afraid like that. I promise I'll protect you."  
  
There was something about the sincerity in his voice that struck a chord with Kagome. She sniffed back another sob and looked up into his eyes. They weren't cold or snide. He looked like he really had every intention of fulfilling that promise.  
  
After a minute Inuyasha wiped away her tears and smiled softly. "Okay?"  
  
Kagome did her best to smile and nodded once. "Okay," she whispered.  
  
"Good... um..." At this, Inuyasha blushed a little. "Kagome, this is going to sound really awkward, but I'm going to need you to take off your shirt for a second."  
  
Kagome just blinked at him in surprise. Did he just say what she thought he just said? She felt like her face was about burst into flames.  
  
"I just need to check to see if you have any injuries," he quickly explained. With that, he took up his flashlight and lifted the corner of his shirt to show a large bruise on his hip that went down underneath his boxers. "I guess I hit the ground at a wierd angle."  
  
Kagome nodded in understanding then slowly and, to her surprise, reluctantly climbed out of his arms. She hesitated for a moment before deciding to just get it overwith quickly and yanked her shirt up over her head. She kept her head down as Inuyasha inched forward a little and gently started using one hand to check for any bruises, occassionally asking if anything hurt. She was too embarassed to speak so she simply shook her head. At one point, Kagome glanced up to see Inuyasha's face every bit as red as she imagined hers was.  
  
After a moment, the only part Inuyasha hadn't checked was her chest. And he didn't seem terribly inclined to be bold. "D-do you feel... any pain in your um... y-your brea-er... chest?" Nice save.  
  
Kagome took a deep breath in, deciding to ignore his Freudian slip. Her ribs were a little sore, but then again, so was the rest of her. "I'm fine," she said quickly and hastily put her shirt back on.  
  
An awkward silence passed between the two of them. They leaned back against opposite walls of the elevator, trying not to look at each other. Kagome wondered what they were going to do. She asked Inuyasha if there was an emergency call button, but he waved it off, saying he had already tried and found it was damaged in the crash. And even if it was working, they'd be grilled for not having their IDs anyway. Screwed no matter what.  
  
At last, Kagome decided to break the silence. "Inuyasha?"  
  
Inuyasha looked up at her wearily. "Hmm?"  
  
"Thank you. I remember just as the elevator started to drop you pulled me down with you and tried to cover me."  
  
Inuyasha opened his mouth as if to say something before closing and opening it again. "S-sure," he stuttered. "I-I'd read that somewhere. And... Kagome, I'm sorry about all those things I said earlier."  
  
Kagome just smiled softly. She crawled over to Inuyasha and sat beside him, resting her head on his shoulder. He seemed tense at first, but soon relaxed again. For once the silence was comfortable.  
  
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Inuyasha still felt a little nervous. For some reason, Kagome brought the wierdest reactions from him. He had never met anyone who had been so unconditionally nice to him before. He must have built up some good karma somewhere along the line to deserve someone like her in his life.  
  
"Inuyasha?" she asked wearily beside him.  
  
"What's up?" he asked back softly.  
  
"You never really talk about yourself." Kagome didn't seem to be implying anything. Though it was clear she did want to make conversation.  
  
The problem was that Inuyasha wasn't a great conversationalist and he knew it. Miroku was the one in their little gang who did all the talking. And his past was something he never felt entirely comfortable talking about anyway. "I just didn't think you'd be interested," he lied.  
  
He felt her chuckle lightly against him. "Don't be silly. What's your family like?"  
  
It figures Kagome would ask that first. Inuyasha puffed a stray lock of hair from his face and sighed. "For the time being I live with my father. He's a lawyer. My... My mother passed away when I was a kid."  
  
"I'm sorry," Kagome whispered. "My father died years ago, too."  
  
It got really awkward again. Neither one of them said anything. For Inuyasha, it was mostly a matter of having no idea what to say next. He wasn't sure why Kagome was so quiet.  
  
He felt himself nodding off after a minute, when an idea hit him. "Kagome. Get up for a second. I want to try something."  
  
Kagome looked up at him in surprise but did as she was told and the two of them stood up. Inuyasha took a moment stretch himself out and try to get the tension out of his system. "I'm going to try and force the door open," he explained.  
  
Kagome only nodded as Inuyasha stepped up to the elevator doors. He dug the tips of his fingers into the crack between the two sliding doors that sealed them into this little prison and began pulling them apart with all his strength. Jesus tap-dancing Christ that was painful! He felt like his fingers were going to snap. But he felt the door budge slightly. There was hope.  
  
Inuyasha dug his fingers in deeper trying to pull open those god damn doors. He swore they were starting to mock him. He was now audibly grunting and straining with the effort. The stupid things must have been damaged in the crash along with everything else in this piece of crap.  
  
At last, he had pulled open enough of a crack that light came through. He heard Kagome behind him squeal with joy. Another minute of straining and he was able to force his shoulder in, constantly changing positions to see which would give him the best leverage.  
  
It felt like an eternity, but at last, the doors were open enough to free the two of them. Inuyasha's arms were numb and Kagome still looked flushed.  
  
They both immediately bolted out the nearest exit and decided to take the long route through the campus back to the dorms. It was actually kind of funny. Inuyasha was sure they would have looked rather comical the way they were sneaking through the shadows and around corners. He could almost hear the Mission: Impossible theme playing in his head.  
  
They reached Ravencroft Hall first and stopped to catch their breath. "I can't wait to tell Sango about this," Kagome said after gasping in another lungful of air.  
  
"Heh, yeah," Inuyasha said half-heartedly. He hoped she wouldn't go into too much detail. He had a reputation to uphold and his friends would never let him hear the end of this.  
  
Kagome surprised him though when she walked up and gave him a hug. "Thanks for being such a sweetheart." With that she gave hm a kiss on the cheek and went back to the front door, smiling over her shoulder at him as she let herself in.  
  
Inuyasha stood there a moment in shock. Had she just kissed him? He wondered back to Barker Hall replaying that scene over and over again in his mind. It seemed like only a heartbeat when he found himself walking into his room where Miroku was just climbing into bed.  
  
"'Bout time you got back," Miroku remarked, still clearly peeved about earlier. He furrowed his brow though at the look on Inuyasha's face. "You feeling okay?"  
  
"I'm fine." With that, Inuyasha kicked off his shoes and dropped into the bed still fully clothed. It all had felt like a dream. Was it? No, it had been real. The strange thing was... normally Inuyasha spent an hour or two tossing and turning before he could go to sleep. Tonight, he was out like a light in a matter of minutes.  
  
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The elevator was repaired days later. The TV club was treated to Kagome's dramatic retelling of the crash and the escape. Things seemed to be returning to normal. The club had now also managed to get four shows on the air, and a schedule posted up by the mailroom. They now had News and Reviews, Ace Spade: Private Eye, Shippo's comedy show called Substance with Style, and Ghost Walk which was hosted by Miroku and was about famous historical tragedies and legends throughout the town.  
  
Inuyasha was on his way back to the table for the weekly TV club brunch. It was now October and the school was already gearing up for Halloween. Halloween of course was Inuyasha's favorite holiday. It was a day dedicated to free food and rampant hedonism. What's not to like? He still hadn't decided on a costume, though. Last year he went to the campus party dressed as a vampire to show off his then-new fangs. The year before that, he w went to Miroku's party as Galgarion from the RPG World comic. Hmm...  
  
Inuyasha was pulled rather abruptly out of his thoughts when he heard someone shout out at him. "Hey, Ace Spade!"  
  
He looked over to the direction the shout had come from and saw a couple of guys from the lacrosse team laughing and smiling as they watched him. "You guys watch the show?" he asked curiously.  
  
"Hell yeah!" one with blonde hair said. "That last episode with the big fight scene in the alley was great."  
  
"Yeah," added another guy with red hair. "And the girl who plays Roxanne is hot." Roxanne Stone was Kagome's character on the show. She was the Jade to Ace's Race Bannon. They were sometimes-partners and on-again/off-again lovers.  
  
Inuyasha just raised his eyebrows trying to fight off the awkward feeling. He was just plain bad at taking compliments. That, and lately he got this growling sensation in the back of his mind whenever some guy started admiring Kagome. "Uh, thanks. I'll pass that on to the crew."  
  
"Awesome. See ya 'round, man."  
  
Inuyasha walked back to the table, still surprised to find out that they had viewers. And fans, no less. When he sat down at the table, everyone looked up to ackowledge his presence so they could begin. "Hey, guys. Before we start, I just wanted to let you know I found out about 30 seconds ago that we have fans."  
  
Shippo nearly did a spit take, Miroku did a double take, Sango looked wide-eyed in surprise, and Kagome's eyebrows shot up toward her hairline. "No shit?" Shippo asked in disbelief.  
  
"Yeah." Inuyasha jerked his head in the general direction of the guys he had spoken with. "Apparently a bunch of guys on the lacrosse team are fans of Ace Spade."  
  
Sango and Kagome immediately hugged each other laughing. "This is great!" Sango shouted. "We have people watching! Now we just need to spread things through word of mouth, and we'll get all the new stuff we need next semester."  
  
"Not to interrupt," Shippo chimed in, "but I just wanted to know who's going to be available next week since it's family weekend."  
  
Inuyasha had almost forgotten about that. Every year, second week of October, the students' families were invited to come down and visit for the weekend. His father had promised to come this year since he missed the last. "Not me," he answered. "My dad's coming in."  
  
"My family's coming over, too," Kagome answered. "I promised them all dinner at Rudy's." Ever since that first evening, Rudy's had been Kagome's favorite place to go eat. They always went there if they had enough time after shooting an episode.  
  
"My father and my brother are supposed to visit," Sango added.  
  
"I guess that just leaves me," Miroku said. His mother had died when he was 12, and ever since then he'd been drifting further apart from his father who was on a downward spiral physically and mentally.  
  
"And me," Shippo said. "For obvious reasons."  
  
Inuyasha gave an internal bemused sigh. They certainly were a motley crew. Still, he doubted he would rather hang out with anyone else even if he wouldn't consciously admit it. Kagome in particular. She was the first person to so easily get through the walls he had put up.  
  
He glanced over at the raven-haired girl next to him and smiled to himself. He wondered absently what his father would think of her. The old man had really wanted his son to meet more people. Maybe they'd get a chance to meet next week.  
  
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The week went by quickly for Kagome. In between studying, writing new scripts, shooting the next episodes of their shows, and of course going to class, she also was trying to set things up for family weekend and fan the flames spreading word about the TV station. She and Sango had put up a couple posters for Ace Spade and Substance with Style and got Inuyasha to convince the other campus radio DJs to plug for the shows.  
  
News of the TV station's revived steam was spreading across the campus like wildfire. One thing Inuyasha had apparently neglected to tell Kagome was that the entire lacrosse team seemed to have a crush on her and whenever she saw them had to endure cat calls and shouts of "You don't have to put on the red light!" She really didn't like guys who tried so hard, though. A little macho swaggering was cute, but going overboard like that was actually annoying after the first few times.  
  
Eventually, Friday night arrived. Kagome was waiting for her family to arrive in the lounge of the college center. Sango and Inuyasha were there too, also waiting on the arrival of their families.  
  
The first to arrive were a tall, thin man with a goatee and a boy in his early teens. Sango immediately jumped up and ran to them. "Dad! Kohaku!" They all shared a big family hug and Kagome couldn't help but smile.  
  
After a few pleasantries, Sango dragged her two family members over to see Kagome and Inuyasha. "I want you guys to meet some of my friends! This is Kagome and Inuyasha. Guys, this is my dad and my little brother, Kohaku."  
  
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Kagome said sweetly.  
  
"Yo," Inuyasha said nonchalantly. Figures that he'd be back to doing his bad-ass act in public. He was slouching deep into an arm chair with one leg over one of the arms.  
  
"So you're the ones Sango's been telling us about," Sango's father said. "Good to see you. I'd like to meet the rest of the crew, as well. Especially this Miroku boy you told me so much about."  
  
Sango turned bright red at that and laughed nervously. "Well... you'll probably get a chance to meet him if you show up for brunch tomorrow. But let's go! We don't want to miss the movie!"  
  
Once Sango was gone, Kagome looked over at Inuyasha who was watching the doors expectantly. He must have really cared more about his family than he let on.  
  
Kagome looked over at the door right at the moment it opened and swore the scene couldn't have been any more like something out of a movie. A tall middle-aged man with long iron grey hair and shoulders like a Cadillac dressed in fancy black slacks and a polo shirt had walked in and was holding the door open for none other than Kagome's mother, grandfather, and little brother. Inuyasha had stood up the instant the grey-haired man had stepped in.  
  
"Kagome!" Mrs. Higurashi shouted excitedly and rushed to her daughter. The two enveloped each other in a hug.  
  
Kagome glanced over her mother's shoulder to see Inuyasha standing with his father.  
  
"What's the matter?" she heard him say in a rumbling voice. "Think you're too much of a bad-ass to hug your old man."  
  
She smiled as Inuyasha just chuckled after a moment and he and his father gave each other a bear hug, each one looking like they were trying to crush the other.  
  
She looked down as she felt Sota hug her as well. "Oh, I missed you all," she said happily. "Thanks for coming out here."  
  
"Oh we wouldn't miss it," her grandfather said with a smile. "Any chance you can give us a tour of the studio while we're here? Maybe show us your latest opus?"  
  
Kagome blushed lightly. "I think I can pull some strings. Oh! There's someone I want you to meet."  
  
With that, she lead them over to Inuyasha who looked from his father to her in surprise. "This is Inuyasha. He's the one I told you about from the detective show."  
  
"Ah, so you're the one," Mrs. Higurashi said with a smile. "I also want to personally thank you. young man, for what you did for my daughter in that whole elevator incident."  
  
Kagome flushed slightly. Inuyasha went beat red and looked at the ground. His father looked at him with curiosity and bemusement. "Mom, this isn't exactly the best place to have this conversation. Let's just go to the diner and I'll explain when we get there."  
  
"Would you mind if we joined you?" Mr. Takamura asked in his booming voice. "Inuyasha told me about a girl named Kagome, whom I assume is your daughter there, but I don't believe he ever mentioned an 'elevator incident.'"  
  
"Oh, not at all," Mrs. Higurashi said. "I assure you, it really is a very interesting story. My name is Miho Higurashi, by the way."  
  
"Inutaisho Takamura. When you tell the story, please don't spare any details."  
  
Kagome couldn't help but giggle. Inuyasha looked like he wanted to be anywhere but right here at that moment. She should have expected that he'd be tight-lipped about the whole elevator incident, just like everything else.  
  
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A short drive later and Inuyasha found himself sitting at a table with his father and Kagome's family. This felt a little awkward. He almost felt as if Kagome was bringing him home to meet her parents, but he quickly squashed that thought.  
  
"So," his father said after they ordered their appetizers, "tell me about this elevator incident."  
  
Inuyasha felt his face heating up once again.  
  
"Well, from what Kagome tells me, she and Inuyasha were spying on a couple friends of theirs," Mrs. Higurashi started. "She always did want to play matchmaker. Anyway, they were caught and decided to duck out. They both realized that they didn't have their student IDs on them so they tried to sneak back to the dorms, taking the elevator in the college center as a shortcut.  
  
"The elevator broke down though and they dropped down to the ground floor about 30 feet. Your son, Inuyasha, apparently knows how to keep a cool head. He pulled Kagome down to the ground with him as they fell and covered her head to protect her."  
  
"Is that a fact?" Inutaisho asked, glancing over at his son. Inuyasha found it difficult to make eye contact.  
  
"What's more, he promised to protect Kagome when he saw how shaken she was from the crash and then pried the doors open with his bare hands." Mrs. Higurashi looked like she could have just burst with joy. It was a wonder she managed to keep her voice level with all the apparent excitement underneath.  
  
Inuyasha glanced over at Kagome who had a light blush on her face, but was also smiling softly.  
  
"As impressed as I am, I think we better switch topics," Inutaisho said with a chuckle. "Inuyasha prefers to think of himself as a hellraiser instead of a hero."  
  
"Dad," Inuyasha groaned, "please shut up." He looked around the table. Kagome's mother and grandfather were smiling at him and her little brother was watching him with stars in his eyes. In the name of all that which is sacred, he truly hated being put on the spotlight.  
  
It was going to be a loooong weekend.  
  
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Author's Notes: There. Cliffhanger all wrapped up, and a setup for things to come.  
  
By the way, when I mentioned caffeine in the last chapter, it's very interesting that I soon after found the caffeine section of ThinkGeek .com. I was not aware that there was such a thing as caffeinated soap, but I do know that I want some Jolt Gum and guarana mints.  
  
On to my reviewers...  
  
Cynical Chaos: To answer your earlier question, no. But I and others I know are very clever when it comes to revenge. A friend of my mother's is a gay writer from New York who really is quite ingenious when it comes to vengeance.  
  
Em Starcatcher: There's more fluff to come, I assure you.  
  
Divine-Red-Crayon: Actually, you spelled "consciousness" right. And how did this chapter measure up to your expectations.  
  
Neptunie10: Fortunately my pact with dark forces is protecting me. Good trade-off for my immortal. It wasn't like I was really using it. ;)  
  
bluefuzzyelf: I wish I could write dialog like that all the time. Though no woman has ever said that to me, I get the distinct feeling that's what they were thinking.  
  
Annie: Cheers. (plays The Soulforged in the background) 


	6. Family Weekend, Part 1

Author's Notes: Again, not a whole hell of a lot to say. In another week or so, I'll be quiet for a while as I've been procrastinating my Midnight Society application as I've written myself into a corner. Thankfully, they're all very patient people who have been in my situation more than once. Just thought I'd give you the heads up.  
  
Anyway, moving on...  
  
Lights, Camera, Action!  
  
Chapter 6- Family Weekend, Part 1  
  
Miroku sat alone at the Unofficial TV Club Table. Inuyasha was probably out with his father. And Shippo didn't even live on campus. He only came to the dining hall for the Saturday brunch meetings. Kagome was probably still catching up with her family, as was Sango.  
  
You can only imagine his surprise then when he saw Sango walking toward the table smiling and talking with a man and a young boy whom he imagined to be the father and brother she had talked about. The thing of it was, Sango had always said her father was a little over-protective. So whereas some people tended to procrastinate bringing friends over to their house for a couple weeks or even months, Sango had been putting it off since high school. To make matters worse, Miroku was starting to regret his choice of outfit today. It wasn't that he was unkempt. It was just his shirt.  
  
One thing Miroku loved to waste time on was online comics. One of his favorites was PvP. In one comic, the character Jade said that she found smart men sexy. When a co-worker made a sarcastic crack about her boyfriend Brent, the latter responded by shouting "Hey! My brain is hung like a horse." That quote was later put on a T-shirt. A T-shirt Miroku bought to tease Sango when he heard her saying she liked smart men. A shirt which he was now wearing. This would certainly hurt first impressions.  
  
"Hi, Miroku!" Sango said cheerfully. "I'd like you to meet my dad and my brother Kohaku."  
  
"Good to meet you," Miroku said with a polite smile. He held back a flinch at the considering look that Mr. Ishikawa was giving him. Just stay cool and don't fuck this up.  
  
"You as well." He sat down beside Sango. "So Miroku, Sango has told me a lot about you. You're the producer for the TV club, eh?"  
  
Miroku just shrugged modestly. "I'm just an outgoing guy. It's easy for me to talk to people." He was very careful to keep level eye contact. That man had a stare like a hawk.  
  
"Useful job skill," Mr. Ishikawa said thoughtfully.  
  
"You should see his show, Dad," Sango added. "I don't know where he finds some of these stories, but it's amazing."  
  
-----------------------------------------------  
  
Sango wouldn't admit it to anyone but herself, but after that night at the cafe, she had a really bad crush on Miroku. Okay, so maybe crush wasn't a strong enough word. As much of an idiot as he was, she really did like him. But if she ever hoped to go any further with him that just being friends, she had to get him past her father's inspection. That man was notoriously over-protective of his family. Ever since Sango's mother had been killed in that accident, her father seemed intent on making sure that he wouldn't lose anyone else in his family. And sometimes he took to that task with a little too much fervor.  
  
Sango had never brought a boy home before because she didn't think anyone would pass inspection. But if anyone could do it, it would be Miroku. He just had to keep his head and continue schmoozing like he always did.  
  
"That's an awesome shirt," Kohaku said. Oh, damn. Sango was hoping to avoid drawing attention to that. She knew Miroku only bought it to tease her.  
  
"Thanks," Miroku said evenly. "I got it just for laughs." Well, that was sort of true. He might just pull this one out yet.  
  
"You must have a very quirky sense of humor," Sango's father commented.  
  
"I've been told that," Miroku said with a half-grin. "I just find a lot of humor in the absurd. Like Monty Python."  
  
Smooth, Miroku. Sango knew her father loved Monty Python. This was slowly going well.  
  
Miroku then glanced over at Kohaku and looked at his T-shirt. It had the logo for Dark Side of the Moon on it. "I love that album," he remarked pointing toward the shirt.  
  
Kohaku smiled at that. "You listen to Pink Floyd, huh?"  
  
"Mm-hmm," Miroku answered with a nod. "David Gilmour's galactic blues guitar. I've been listening to the blues since I was old enough to know what music was."  
  
Sango coldn't help but smile at Miroku. He was such an idiot sometimes. But at this point she really didn't care.  
  
-----------------------------------------------  
  
Meanwhile, Kagome watched with amusement as Inuyasha set up the equipment in the booth of the studio. His father and her family had been so eager to see the shows, that Mr. Takamura made a deal with Inuyasha that if they could see them now, he would treat them all to brunch at the restaurant of their choice. Inuyasha had agreed before Kagome or her family had a chance to be polite and attempt to turn down the offer. Of course, given how Mr. Takamura had behaved so far, he probably would have insisted.  
  
"Alright," Inuyasha said at last, "where do we start?"  
  
"I'd like to see the detective show," Mrs. Higurashi said first.  
  
"Okay then. Episode 1 of Ace Spade: Private Eye, 'Something Fishy.'" With that, he popped the tape in and set the TV on. They all gathered around in chairs with Inuyasha and Kagome hanging back to give everyone else a better view. The first episode had Ace assigned to investigate the disappearance of a rich man's son at the docks district. It turned out the son was the culprit who faked his own disappearance so that he could leave the country after stealing the portion of the family fortune that his brother stood to inherit. Very cliche, but very pulp.  
  
"That was cool!" Sota said first. Kagome couldn't help but smile a little. Sota had apparently been looking at Inuyasha as a hero ever since he heard about the elevator.  
  
The second episode was called "The Lady in Black." It introduced Roxanne who was accused of murdering a young jazz musician. She helped Ace to eventually discover that the killer was actually one of the victim's bandmates whom the victim had been blackmailing. Kagome loved playing Roxanne, because she was absolutely nothing like her. Roxanne was sly, cool, and had Ace wrapped around her finger half the time. She still remembered being a little embarassed when they had to do that scene at the end where Roxanne gave Ace a kiss in thanks for helping her out of her situation. If Inuyasha had been, too, he was damn good at hiding it.  
  
A couple more episodes and Mr. Takamura stood up. "Well, I'd love to continue, but it's a quarter to twelve, so I think we better get going if we want to eat."  
  
Everyone agreed. "You guys go ahead to the parking lot. I'll be back in a minute." With that, Inuyasha dashed off to return the studio key to the library.  
  
True to his word, he made it back in about a minute also with his headphones on and his CD player stuffed in his pocket. "So, where are we heading?"  
  
Kagome thought for a minute. "I think there's a TGI Friday's not far from here."  
  
"Oh yeah!" Inuyasha said a smirk. "I know the one. It's a few miles down West Main Street."  
  
"We haven't been there in a while," Grandfather said thoughtfully.  
  
"Anyone prefer anything different?" Inutaisho asked. At the silence he just smiled. "Alright then. Why don't we take my car? There's plenty of room." He pointed over to a white SUV a few spaces down.  
  
Normally, Kagome didn't really like SUVs. They seemed far too huge, ate gas like nobody's business, and could crush anything in their path in an accident. But she decided to humor Inuyasha's father this once since he was being a nice guy.  
  
Inuyasha got in the passenger's seat prompting Sota to immediately jump in first and take a seat in the middle row. Kagome let her grandfather and mother go in before her so she and the latter ended up sitting in the back together.  
  
No sooner had they left the parking lot than Inuyasha pulled his CD player out and opened it up. He pulled out a CD labeled "Custom Mix 4" and looked back to the others in the car. "Anybody mind if I put this on?"  
  
"It's okay with me," Mrs. Higurashi said pleasantly. "What's on it, by the way?"  
  
"Oh, lots of stuff," Inuyasha said casually. Kagome knew they were in for a surprise as soon as the CD was pushed into the car stereo.  
  
Inuyasha immediately began banging his head to another heavy metal song with a manic lead guitar and a singer with a raspy, evil-sounding voice.  
  
"Out of curiosity," Grandfather said in obvious displeasure, "what is this?"  
  
"Savatage!" Inuyasha answered. "Hall of the Mountain King!" With that he actually started lip-synching to the lyrics.  
  
Kagome simply sighed. With Inuyasha it sometimes seemed he thought anything worth doing was worth overdoing. What's more, Sota was getting into it, trying to emulate his new hero.  
  
The song ended only to start up another. It was a little wierd. The group seemed to have their own little quirks in their choice of entertainment. Inuyasha was a metalhead and a horror movie junkie. Miroku was a blues fan and all but worshipped Hitchcock and Christopher Guest. Sango liked fusion music and knew everything worth knowing about Adventure movies. Shippo loved ska and had an almost obscene level of knowledge in cinematic comedy from Charlie Chaplin to Mystery Science Theater 3000. Kagome herself wasn't really sure if she could be neatly categorized like that. Her tastes were so eclectic.  
  
Inuyasha barely managed to get through the second song when they arrived at the restaurant. Kagome was trying to hide her laughter as he seemed to feel a little uncomfortable with the attention he was getting from Sota.  
  
"So, what was that other song?" he asked eagerly.  
  
"Uh... Aces High by Iron Maiden." Inuyasha looked so tempted to just plug those headphones back in and drown out reality. It was cute.  
  
"What other bands do you listen to?"  
  
Inuyasha sighed and proceeded to count off his favorite bands on his fingers as they walked into the restaurant. "Let's see... Savatage and Iron Maiden, of course. There's also Blind Guardian, Michael Schenker Group, Scorpions, System of a Down, Iced Earth..."  
  
And he just kept going. Kagome began to wonder just how big his CD collection was. Even after they were seated, he was still going.  
  
"... Heart, UFO, and uh... anything with Ronnie James Dio or Ritchie Blackmore."  
  
Sota looked like he was having an information overload. "Uh... yeah."  
  
"That reminds me," Mr. Takamura said from beside his son, "A friend of mine works at Green Arena. He says Iced Earth is going to be playing there on December 20. If you want, he can pull some strings and get you tickets before they officially go on sale."  
  
"Are you kidding?" Inuyasha asked with a huge grin splitting his face. "Who do you want me to kill?"  
  
"No one, I should hope."  
  
Kagome just chuckled a little. Inuyasha was always fun to be around. He really did have a softer side if you looked for it. She had to admit that she had maybe a little crush on him. But it was probably best to just bide her time a little longer.  
  
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Author's Notes: It's a little shorter than I wanted it to be, but I think it's best I handled this one as a two-parter.  
  
Here's to my reviewers...  
  
Araine: Personally, I can't stand coffee. And that's nothing. I once tripped while carrying a piece of burning incense to another holder and ended up snuffing it out on my arm. Not long before that, my friend's dog bit me in the hollow of my knee. That hurt like all get out. I still have the scar, as a matter of fact.  
  
Em Starcatcher: It's just you. But Sesshoumaru will appear eventually. There are plans for him.  
  
Mimiko: I never liked soap operas, but whatever floats your boat.  
  
bluefuzzyelf: Just wait until the chapter where we see Shippo's TV show.  
  
Divine-Red-Crayon: My dad plucked that song off the net a couple years back.  
  
Annie: I have been knocked out once. It's not an experience I'd care to repeat. And don't worry about rambling. I take it as a compliment when something I wrote makes people talk.  
  
Cynical Chaos: You're damn right you don't want me pissed. I think I'd make a good supervillain if I just totally disposed of any and all sympathetic emotions. But I don't have the heart. 


	7. Family Weekend, Part 2

Author's Notes: Well, it's going to be a busy week. Between finishing my Midnight Society application (at last) and working on all of my stories and songs, I have to go shopping for college once more. (sigh) Work in any shape or form sucks.  
  
Lights, Camera, Action!  
  
Chapter 7- Family Weekend, Part 2  
  
The next day, Sango had suggested that they all go into town for a while. Since they weren't very far from the city, the town itself was slowly beginning to assimilate modern counterculture. There was an artistic district called Newfield not far from the campus with art house theaters, coffee shops, themed restaurants, art galleries, open-mic cafes, and so on. In fact, most episodes of Ace Spade and Ghost Walk were filmed here.  
  
As an added bonus, Miroku was the perfect tour guide. In just their freshmen year, he had memorized the layout of the district as if he had lived there his whole life. He just had to keep on impressing for the rest of the day. If he could win Sango's father's approval, all would be well. He was jumping through the hoops just fine, so he just needed to make sure Mr. Ishikawa decided not to light the next ones on fire.  
  
They drove out to a little parking lot and hit the streets, as Miroku had insisted that the best way to experience Newfield was through a walking tour. The district certainly did not lack color. Some of the streets and sidewalks were still brick and cobblestone. A trolley ran through several roads every now and again with its black roof, red signs, and gold logo and numbers. Just about everywhere there was something or someone to see. On one corner stood a man with a twelve-string guitar singing about the people passing by him. On another was a woman performing magic tricks for a small crowd of children and their parents. Across the street was a theater and pub with a big sign that showed a skull wearing a top hat fighting with a tiki mask. They passed by a magic shop which had a motorized rabbit pulling itself out of a hat and waving at passersby.  
  
"I love this place," Miroku remarked. "Ronny's Magic Shop. I'm on a first-name basis with the owner. We actually did an episode of Ghost Walk here. Local legend has it that a woman committed suicide in there after learning of her husband's infidelity. He died under mysterious circumstances a year later."  
  
"Delightful," Mr. Ishikawa said flatly. Sango remembered how he used to love ghost stories. But in the last couple years he had become disinterested in it all. "It's getting close to lunch. What do you recommend around here?" That was a good sign at least.  
  
Miroku thought for a minute before snapping his fingers and smiling. "I've got an idea. Do you like Mediterranean? Because there's a bistro a couple blocks down called Sinbad's. And I know of a good place we can go for dessert afterwards."  
  
The restaurant was a cute little place with only eight tables and staffed by a family that looked like they were of mixed Greek and Italian blood. The meal started out well enough. A simple appetizer of fried mushrooms and salad, and then the main course. Miroku had recommended they try anything with lamb in it. Sango took his advice and got beef and lamb kabobs. She certainly was glad she did and made a mental note to come back here sometime.  
  
"Miroku," her father said conversationally, "I do not mean to pry, but could you tell me a little more about yourself? Your family?"  
  
Sango didn't know whether to smile or wince. Miroku must have been making a damn good impression to be that interesting to her father, but at the same time she wasn't sure what he would think of Miroku's background.  
  
Miroku himself hesitated a moment. "Well... it's not something I like to talk about, but I suppose there's no harm. My parents weren't the happiest couple in the world. It's a wonder they loved each other enough to stay together as long as they did. Still, they always taught me to be responsible and how to think for myself.  
  
"When my mother died eight years ago from kidney failure... I think something in my father snapped. He's become very self-destructive lately. It's why he isn't here today. I feel sorry for the poor guy, I really do. I mean, come on, he's my father. Still, its... uh, it's pretty hard sometimes."  
  
Sango really hated having to hear that. Miroku was working so hard to pick himself out of that trap his own father was falling into. But it was usually something he kept to himself. He must have really wanted to make a good impression to so willingly part with his story to people he had only known about twenty-four hours.  
  
"I see," Mr. Ishikawa said after a moment. "Things must have been very rough for you."  
  
Miroku nodded. "Yeah. But I'm here now. I'm not one to give up easy."  
  
Sango waited as her father eyed Miroku with a very considering stare before finally nodding slowly. "I respect that."  
  
Sango released a breath she hadn't realised she was holding. It looked like Miroku had won approval. She tried to keep from smiling too widely. No sense in giving herself away just yet.  
  
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Miroku was relieved to see that Mr. Ishikawa was no longer fixing him with a hawkish glare. That guy could be downright scary if he tried. They made small talk throughout the rest of the meal before Miroku led them all back out onto the streets. "Come on. There's a little place around the corner."  
  
The place in question was an ice cream parlor run by an Asian family called The Jade Oasis. "They've got ice cream, obviously. But they also make smoothies and bubble tea."  
  
"What's bubble tea?" Kohaku asked curiously.  
  
"It's basically like fruit flavored iced tea with really big tapioca beads in it." He got their interest at that one. There were certainly advantages to being outgoing.  
  
The little parlor was sparsely furnished with a couple bamboo plants here and there and a fountain on the counter. There was a young Japanese boy sitting behind the register reading A Confederacy of Dunces. He looked up as the four people walked in through the glass door and smiled. "Hey Miroku."  
  
"Hey Ken," Miroku answered back with a smile. "How's it hangin'?"  
  
"Eh, same old," Ken said with a shrug. "Can I get you guys anything?"  
  
Miroku simply gestured for Sango and her family to go first. Sango gave him a little knowing smile that gave him a boost of confidence. He was pretty sure he had passed her father's test by now.  
  
"I'll have a peanut butter sundae," Kohaku started.  
  
"Hmm... I'd like to try a dragonfruit smoothie," Mr. Ishikawa said after perusing the menu above the counter.  
  
"A passionfruit bubble tea for me," Sango said.  
  
Ken looked up at Miroku and smirked. "Let me guess... Blueberry bubble tea." He said it as more of a statement than a question.  
  
Miroku put on a look mock shock. "My god, have I become that predictable?"  
  
"I'll take that as a yes," Ken laughed.  
  
As they all stepped outside to enjoy their desserts, Miroku cast a glance over at Mr. Ishikawa to see that he was looking at him in a much more amiable manner. "What did I tell ya?" he asked conversationally. "Newfield is a great place."  
  
"Indeed it is," Mr. Ishikawa said with a soft smile. "I have to say I'm impressed."  
  
Miroku looked back at Sango who was smiling broadly and flashing him a thumbs-up behind her father's back. He had won approval. Mission accomplished.  
  
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Inutaisho watched with amusement as Inuyasha left the table with the excuse that he just wanted to walk around when it was obvious that he just wanted to go talk to Kagome who was standing by the river. They were all dining out for lunch that day in a small cafe by the river called Harry's Place. The scenery was all very picturesque, which is probably why Inutaisho liked the town so much.  
  
"It really is cute how they're getting along," Miho said beside him.  
  
"Yes," he responded as he watched his son. "I must say that I really think Kagome is the best thing to happen to Inuyasha in a long time."  
  
"How do you mean?" Miho's father asked.  
  
"Well... Inuyasha has always been a little emotionally detached. He didn't take his mother's death very well. I was always busy so I wasn't there for him like I should have been. And his brother, Sesshoumaru... I really wish I could have done better with that boy. He was never any help to Inuyasha either.  
  
"Anyway, Inuyasha has never really let himself live. After his break-up with his old girlfriend Kikyo a few months back, I was beginning to wonder if he'd ever trust anyone again. But it seems that ever since Kagome came into his life, he's changed. He doesn't seem as hostile or cold anymore."  
  
"Hmm," Miho answered in deep thought as she watched the two young people at the river. It seemed they were in another argument again. They sounded almost like a married couple playing games with one another. "She's always been able to bring out the best in people, you know."  
  
"Mm-hmm." There was a pause between all of them. Inutaisho thought for a moment. There had to be something he could do for his son. This arrangement would only last during the school year. And Inuyasha really needed someone like Kagome in his life to keep him sane. Wait... "I think I have an idea..."  
  
Miho, her father, and Sota all leaned in closer to hear what he had to say. By the time he finished explaining what he had in mind, they all had grins on their faces. "I'm sure we could work something out," Miho said with a nod. "We'll exchange contact information and try to plan this out over the next month or two."  
  
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Meanwhile, in another part of town, Shippo was out at the mall perusing the game store for anything decent. His classes this semester had been a total breeze. His homework was done not long after he got it home and he had already studied enough to memorize several sections of his textbook and notes verbatim. So now, he was rewarding himself with some time out of the house to himself and a new computer game. Unfortunately, the selection of games he didn't already have was pretty slim. And what choices he did have were hard to decide on.  
  
"Hmm. Sims 2, City of Heroes, or Psi-Ops? Nngh! I can't stand decisions like this." This was looking bleak. How was he going to make a choice? They all had their good qualities and seemed to sing a siren song of hours of wasted time in digital fantasy.  
  
"Shippo!" He was drawn out of his inner debate by another siren song, this one coming from a flesh-and-blood person. He looked up to see Kirara walking into the store smiling at him. God, he loved her smile. It figured that she'd be here. She had moved into this town last June so family weekend was just another excuse for her not to go back to campus on the weekend and study. "Looking to blow this week's paycheck?" she asked jokingly.  
  
"If I could do that, I wouldn't be in this little dilemma," Shippo answered. He then turned back to the shelves. "Take a look. My choices are obvious. Either Sims 2, City of Heroes, or Psi-Ops. I need a break from Halo 2, which I love, don't get me wrong. What do you think?"  
  
"Hmm," she said, eyebrows going up toward her hairline. "That is a conundrum. Sims 2 offers you the undeniable thrill of getting to play god. City of Heroes lets you be a superhero which is synonymous with awesome. And Psi-Ops has stealth and exploding heads."  
  
"You see my problem, of course," Shippo said. "With school still in session, I can really only get one. And the indecision is tearing me apart." Why did life have to be so complicated?  
  
"Oh, woe is you. Hell, woe is me, too. Now I need to get one of these!" Kirara shook her head. "It's not easy being a digital junkie."  
  
"We are indeed doomed," Shippo said, trying to outdo her in terms of hokey melodrama.  
  
"What are we ever to do?" she moaned before collapsing back into Shippo's arms like in an operah. She won this round. Of course, this also gave Shippo a really wicked idea. "Okay, help me up," Kirara said at last. She had leaned back so far that her torso was now parallel with the ground, setting her center of gravity off and making it nearly impossible to get the proper leverage to stand upright.  
  
Shippo just grinned down at her. "I don't think so."  
  
Kirara craned her neck to look at him. "Say that again?"  
  
"I like you just where you are," Shippo said very slyly.  
  
Kirara blushed at that one. "You're either a perv or under the impression that your arms can hold out forever."  
  
Shippo just shrugged. "When my arms get tired I can just put you over my shoulder." Years of pranks and jokes had made him a decent actor. He knew how to keep a straight face and keep that blush out that he knew was threatening to creep in.  
  
"You wouldn't dare," Kirara challenged him.  
  
"Try me," Shippo retorted.  
  
"I'll scream."  
  
"And get us both kicked out?"  
  
"Try me."  
  
"You're no fun," Shippo teased as he set Kirara upright again. She rubbed her neck a moment and smirked at him.  
  
"Back to your little conundrum..." He swore she was just toying with him. It really drove Shippo insane. He had safely concluded that Inuyasha and Kagome were unconsciously flirting instead of arguing. And it was pretty obvious that Miroku and Sango were finally getting together. Honestly, it took them long enough. But here he was on such good terms with the woman of his dreams and he was so worried about destroying what he already with her that he couldn't bring himself to ask her out. It was such a kick in the balls. It was wierd how women were at once attractive and frustrating like all get out because they were so damn confusing. Did they even realize the full extent of their power over men?  
  
Still... there had to be some way to get closer to Kirara. Give her an inkling about his feelings and maybe get her to reciprocate them. That reminded him...  
  
"Hey, Kirara, if you can help me out with this decision, then I'll let you in on a little side project I'm working on. It's a favor for Miroku and Sango regarding some well-placed vengeance."  
  
Kirara grinned and her eyes lit up. "Ooh! I'm sold. Who are your poor, unsuspecting targets this time?"  
  
"Patience," Shippo said with a smirk and a finger wag. "Game first, conspiracy later."  
  
-----------------------------------------------  
  
The weekend had gone by faster than Kagome would have liked. The sun was setting and it was time for her family to spend the next three hours on the road home. She hugged her mother, brother, and grandfather one last time. "I'll miss you guys. I promise I'll bring back DVDs of our shows for Thanksgiving break."  
  
"We're looknig forward to it," her mother said. "I'm really proud of you, remember that."  
  
As they finished their goodbyes, Kagome looked to see Inuyasha watching his father's SUV turn round the corner and disappear. She was right. He cared more than he let on. She walked over to him and smiled. "Your dad is really cool."  
  
Inuyasha smirked. "Yeah. Your family too."  
  
"You're just saying that because Sota worships the ground you walk on," she teased.  
  
"What can I say, your brother knows greatness when he sees it," Inuyasha replied coolly.  
  
Kagome just giggled and slapped his shoulder playfully. "You're such a narcissist."  
  
"You wouldn't have me any other way and you know it."  
  
Okay, what did he mean by that? She looked up at him with a lifted eyebrow and he just stared back at her challengingly. She just kept staring into his eyes until his haughty attitude started to drop and she forgot what it was they had been talking about anyway. Why was he so hard to figure out?  
  
Inuyasha parted his lips as if to speak but instead just coughed and turned his head with a light blush. "I better get going. I need to study." With that, he turned to walk off to Barker Hall. "I'll see ya, Kagome," he said over his shoulder.  
  
Kagome stood there a moment longer. Why was it that whenever they were alone he got like that? She couldn't seem to piece it all together.  
  
Sighing softly, she walked back to Ravencroft Hall.  
  
-----------------------------------------------  
  
Meanwhile, just around the corner, Kirara and Shippo tried to contain their laughter as they snuck back off from whence they came. They had gotten what they needed to start on what would be one of Shippo's most ambitious revenge schemes yet.  
  
"Shippo, you are a genius," Kirara laughed.  
  
"Isn't it the truth?" Shippo laughed back. "I like to think that by giving people their karmic backlash I'm using my talents for good instead of evil. But we all know that I enjoy this way too much for it to be good."  
  
-----------------------------------------------  
  
Author's Notes: Ha! You'd thought I'd forgotten about Miroku and Sango's revenge hadn't you? Think again! I think I've left enough dangling plot threads for you all to feed on and speculate over for a while. I really need to get back to my Midnight Society application. I've somehow written myself into a corner. Ugh.  
  
Anyway, a shout-out to my reviewers...  
  
Araine: Well, that kicks the crap out of my various wounds. Though my younger brother once had a chiminea fall over and brush against his leg when he was wearing shorts, resulting in what was almost a third degree burn. It took him about 30 seconds to get over the shock, and then he screamed loud enough to be heard three blocks down... And, oh yeah, Kikyo and Sesshoumaru will be appearing later. Don't worry, their time will come.  
  
bluefuzzyelf: Do these Shippo scenes meet with your seal of approval? Just wait until you see what he has planned, though.  
  
Concrete Angel: At this point, I have Koga planned as a supporting character. But that might change. And by "might" I mean "possibly, but slim chance."  
  
Father Malvado: Books, music, and film are my life. I was born to create.  
  
Mimiko: Actually I'm something of a connoiseur (probably spelled that wrong) of shampoos. I have very unusual hair. It's probably my best feature, so I take a lot of pride in it. True story, I have on at least five spearate occassions in the last three years had complete strangers compliment me on my hair. Most of them were women who said I had better hair than their daughters.  
  
Cynical Chaos: Every rule and the two cell blocks. Evil is fun, but it's even more fun when you win.  
  
Ama: Gandalf rules. And I'll be sure to check your story out by the end of the week at the very latest.  
  
Thessalian: Yes, it does exist. Go to pvponline .com and click on the window on the right underneath the comic that shows the T-shirt designs. It will take you to ThinkGeek's PvP store where you can get the shirt. And I know my female characters can be hokey sometimes. Female writers probably don't have this same problem as often with male characters. I mean, it's not like guys are that hard to figure out. Stand-up comedians have had us pegged for some time now.  
  
Magellan-Chan: Yes, Rin will be in this. I have plans for even her.  
  
wereturtle: Small universities only work if that's the kind of environment you feel comfortable in. And I'm kicking ass in mine. 


	8. The Night Is Young

Author's Notes: I'm feeling better this week. Except that I found some inconsistencies. In chapter 2, Inuyasha talked about seeing The Village on opening night. My bad. I'll get around to fixing that.  
  
Second, when Shippo was looking for games, he mentioned Halo 2. It was supposed to be just Halo, because I don't think Halo 2 is supposed to be released until late October or early November. Oops.  
  
But other than that, I'm feeling good about a few things. One thing I wasn't telling you guys about because I didn't want to talk about was that one of our greyhounds was sick as hell. Her stomach was distending and she losing an alarming amount of weight. We took her to the vet the day I posted the last chapter and found out that she had to stay in the hospital overnight to have her belly drained of the juices that were filling her abdomen as a result of liver failure. We're not sure of the cause, but at this point we think it was because she ate something toxic.  
  
However, we got her back the next day. She looked like she had just come out of Auschwitz, but she looked happy again. And now she's back to whining loudly when she wants attention and is practically inhaling every scrap of food we put in front of her. So we're feeling pretty optimistic about her recovery. Her name, by the way, is Sakura in case you were wondering.  
  
Also, I'm on another creative spike, and I'm milking it for everything it's worth. I'm finally writing myself out of that god damn corner!  
  
Finally, I at last have my hands on Hellboy comics. You have no idea how hard it was for me to get these. Mike Mignola kicks ass.  
  
Oh, on a side note, I also got a T-shirt for one of my new favorite Internet cartoon series, Neurotically Yours. I'll let you guys Google that and find it on your own. It defies description.  
  
Enough of my rambling. I need to get to work on this...  
  
Lights, Camera, Action!  
  
Chapter 8- The Night Is Young  
  
"You're kidding, right?" Sango asked. It was a little less than a week before Halloween, and she and Miroku were sitting in the cafe studying.  
  
"I'm serious," Miroku replied. "Let's go to the Halloween party in matching costumes. It'll be fun."  
  
"Well... what did you have in mind?" Sango asked as she highlighted another paragraph in her book.  
  
"I was thinking something along the lines of... oh, say... Aragorn and Arwen?"  
  
Sango stopped right where she was. Reading, highlighting, breathing, everything. Did he really just say what she thought he just said? She looked up at him with her face on fire. How in the name of all things sacred and holy did he know about that? What was he, psychic? She had been fantasizing about going with him to the party in those very costumes ever since it was announced!  
  
"But if you don't like that idea..." Miroku went on oh so innocently.  
  
"No!" Sango interrupted a little too quickly. "No, that's alright with me. It would just be kind of a switch for me. I don't usually wear dresses." Well, that wasn't really a lie. Just an incomplete truth. Sango wore skirts on occassion, but she hadn't worn a dress in five years. Of course, she certainly wasn't about to tell Miroku every one of her reasons.  
  
"Cool," Miroku said evenly. "I have a couple favors I can call in. Shouldn't be too hard to get the costumes."  
  
Sango was never sure how to react to his behavior. There was no way in hell he was anywhere near as innocent as he pretended to be. Did he make some kind of pact with dark forces and just forgot? Little else seemed to make sense.  
  
On the other hand, this was certainly nice. Though they weren't officially going out, they were getting pretty close. Normally, Sango liked to be the one to take the initiative, make the first move. But right now she was still uncertain and wanted Miroku to move first. She had been hoping he would ask her out or something. Or at least do something like that last evening they had together that Inuyasha and Kagome had interrupted. Asking her to go to the Halloween party with him wasn't quite what she had in mind, but he had somehow found out about her matching costume fantasy. That could be a good sign.  
  
A little later, back at the dorms, Sango explained her situation to Kagome who looked positively giddy over it all.  
  
"Sango, that's so cute!" she giggled.  
  
"Yeah, but how did he know?" Sango asked, still trying to figure it out.  
  
Kagome paused, trying to hide a guilty look on her face behind a thoughtful one. But she was too little, too late.  
  
"You didn't," Sango said challengingly in a menacing voice.  
  
Kagome looked like she was about to deny it, but smiled nervously instead. "Possibly," she said cautiously.  
  
With that Sango immediately snatched up her pillow and lunged at Kagome who squeaked and grabbed her own pillow to use as a shield. "I can't believe you told him! Is there any part of my life that you aren't poking into?"  
  
"You know you wanted him to find out! Besides, he did ask you to the party, didn't he?" This kept on for a little while. After the first 30 seconds or so, the argument petered out and Sango and Kagome just started laughing and having fun as they bludgeoned each other with their pillows. They were soon interrupted by a familiar and obnoxiously smug voice.  
  
"As much as I'm enjoying this, we have a show to do." Inuyasha stood leaning one shoulder against the door frame, legs crossed at the ankles, and arms folded over his chest. He had an infuriatingly smug smirk on his face.  
  
"How long have you been there?" Kagome asked with a light blush.  
  
"Do you really want to know the answer to that?" he responded, earning him a tossed pillow which smacked him in the face. "You're hot when you're angry."  
  
Kagome went even redder and scowled. "I'm not angry!" she snapped. "I'm just annoyed by you acting like a child."  
  
"I wasn't the one in a pillowfight with my roommate," Inuyasha retorted. "And you are angry. Better calm down, though. You're turning me on over here."  
  
"Inuyasha," Kagome growled, obviously more than a little embarassed, "you have two choices. Either you can shut up and let me get changed so we can do the show, or I let this stew for a while and have Shippo help me in delivering horrible, emasculating vengeance."  
  
Inuyasha just held up his hands in defeat and walked out.  
  
Kagome heaved a sigh and went to her drawers to get her costume for Roxanne. It was a black and white pinstripe dress with matching jacket. She also had a long coat, black pumps, and a fedora.  
  
Sango went back to her bed as Kagome was changing. Suddenly, a wicked thought hit her. It wasn't quite as devious as something Shippo would come up with, but it was a very appropriate way of getting back at Kagome for betraying her like that.  
  
She simply read her magazine until Kagome left the room. Sango waited thirty seconds to make sure Kagome wouldn't double back, then grabbed her cell phone and dialed up Inuyasha.  
  
------------------------------------  
  
Inuyasha was just fixing his suit jacket when his cellphone went off. He quickly snatched it up and flipped it open. "Talk to me."  
  
"Inuyasha?" Why was Sango calling him?  
  
"What's up?"  
  
"Just thought I'd let you in on a little secret. Kagome is really hoping that you'll ask her to go with you to the Halloween party."  
  
There was a brief pause as Inuyasha digested that information. "She... She is?" He had heard that right, right?  
  
"Yeah. And I think you could really score some points with her if you suggested that the two of you go in matching costumes. Specifically, Ace and Roxanne."  
  
Inuyasha had to admit, that did sound tempting. Wait, why did he care? Then he remembered how Kagome had been treating him since the elevator incident. Oh yeah, that's why. He admitted to himself at last that he had been considering asking Kagome out some time.  
  
"You still there?" Sango asked on the other end.  
  
"Huh? Uh, yeah. So... she really wants me to ask her to the party?"  
  
"It's all she talks about."  
  
"Huh..." At this point he couldn't think of anything much more intelligent to say.  
  
"I'll let you think about that for a while," Sango said almost playfully and hung up.  
  
Inuyasha folded up his phone and slipped it into the inside pocket of his trench coat before draping himself in it. Well... it couldn't do any harm to ask, right? If Kagome really wanted him to ask her it shouldn't be a problem, right? At least, that's what he figured as he walked out of the dorm.  
  
Shippo was already waiting by the car and Kagome wasn't far behind. "Alright. Let's roll."  
  
They all climbed in without much talk. This had all become routine in the last two months. There seemed to be an awkward silence this time, though. Inuyasha tried to concentrate on the road as he went on with his daredevil driving but his attention kept going to Kagome. She and Shippo still weren't used to his driving, though.  
  
He sighed lightly as he took a sharp turn and turned on the CD player. He couldn't remember which one he had left in there. It was his Number 8 mix apparently because the first song was Wheels of Fire by Manowar. He started singing along to try and keep his cool.  
  
"Spirit of the Wheel/Wheels of fire burn the night/Ride across the sky/Wheels of fire burning bright/We live to ride/Ahh!"  
  
"This is the last thing you need to be listening to!" Kagome shrieked as Inuyasha shot through a crossroad just as the light turned red.  
  
"Would you prefer Highway to Hell?" he shot back. That shut her up. It wasn't the song, so much as the title that he knew did the trick. Of course, he probably should be a little nicer. It would make him look better when he decided to ask her the whole... question thing. So he shut off the CD player and tried to focus on driving.  
  
"Thanks," Kagome said in relief before clutching at her seatbelt as they took another turn.  
  
------------------------------------  
  
A few close calls later, and they were all in Newfield. Kagome breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped out of the car and straightened herself out. "Shippo, you and Inuyasha set up. I need a minute to settle my stomach."  
  
"You're the boss," Shippo said with a shrug.  
  
Kagome leaned up against the car and fanned herself with her fedora. Thinking about Sango's situation made her realize that she had yet to pick out a costume for the Halloween party. It was less than a week away. She needed to think of something. Inuyasha was apparently a big Halloween buff. He might have an idea.  
  
"Hey, Kagome."  
  
Speak of the devil. "What's up?" she asked.  
  
Inuyasha messed with the angle of his fedora nervously for a minute. That wasn't like him. "Uh... I was just wondering if you had any plans for the Halloween party?"  
  
"Actually I was going to ask you for some advice. I haven't picked out a costume yet."  
  
"Oh! Um... Well I was just wondering if you'd be interested in going with me in... matching costumes." As much as he obviously tried to hide it, there was a faint blush creeping into his cheeks.  
  
Kagome looked at him strangely. "What did you have in mind?"  
  
"Well, I was thinking we could go as Ace and Roxanne. You know, we already have the costumes, and they're really cool characters. Just... you know..."  
  
"That's a great idea!" Kagome said excitedly.  
  
"So... you'll go?" Inuyasha asked a little uncertain.  
  
"Of course I will! I wonder if we'll meet any fans at the party." It was a really good idea. This meant Kagome wouldn't have to shop for a costume. And she got to spend the night with Inuyasha. Wait, where did that come from?  
  
"If you two are done flirting," Shippo interrupted, "we're ready to shoot the scenes."  
  
Kagome blushed a little but nodded. The first scene was straightforward. It was just Ace walking out of an alley while tailing a suspect. There was no dialog for this, as they had already recorded the voice-over narrative in the studio.  
  
As the camera was recording, Inuyasha slipped out of the alley, peering ahead as if trying to find someone. He looked side to side, then cursed silently. His quarry had eluded him. It was back to square one. With a sigh, he tilted the brim of his hat down and walked back into the alley from where he came. To compliment the scene, Kagome had Shippo take several shots of the streets and the passersby to establish that the man Ace had been following had vanished.  
  
After that came a scene in the episode between Ace and Roxanne. Shippo gave them their cues, and Kagome walked up the street beside Inuyasha with Shippo walking backwards slowly and evenly, keeping the camera level and the microphone steady.  
  
"So he managed to slip by, eh," Kagome said in her Roxanne voice. She spoke in a lower, more seductive tone for this character.  
  
"Sorry to say," Inuyasha responded as Ace. Within moments, Kagome recalled all her training as an actor and felt herself come alive in the scenery. She was Roxanne Stone walking with Adrian Spade. She found his slip up amusing and she just wanted to mess with his head. There was no camera. There was only the scenery around them.  
  
"Do you have any other leads to follow?"  
  
"One guy. I hear that Samson used to be a regular at Slim's Tavern. The owner, Slim Solomon, is the barkeep, and I intend to try and get some information out of him tonight."  
  
"In that case..." With that, Roxanne placed a hand on Ace's shoulder to stop him. She then grabbed his neck tie and pulled his face down to hers. They stopped just centimeters apart and Shippo zoomed in for a close-up. They were going to edit out the footage in between back at the studio. As soon as he was set up, Shippo gave them a cue to start up again.  
  
Roxanne pulled Ace down to her and kissed him on the lips. It was only for a moment though and he didn't have enough time to kiss her back as she pulled back and smirked at him. "For luck," she said simply. With that she turned and walked off with Ace watching her go.  
  
"Okay, we're good. We just need it one last time for protection."  
  
Kagome gave a small sigh. She was beginning to wonder if she was enjoying doing these kissing scenes a little too much. She was surprised though when she looked at Inuyasha. Every time they did these kind of scenes, he was normally very cool about it all. This time, he looked slightly flushed.  
  
They set up to do the scene again, but Kagome couldn't seem to push from her mind how strange Inuyasha's reaction was.  
  
It came time for the close-up again. On cue, Roxanne pulled Ace down into a kiss. But something was different this time. Kagome felt Inuyasha kissing her back. They lingered that way for a moment as Kagome tried to figure out if it was accidental or what. If nothing else, it certainly caught her off-guard. When she parted away, she fought to keep her composure. "For luck." This time it was more of a sultry whisper. She slowly turned and walked down the sidewalk.  
  
"Damn," Shippo said slowly. "That was actually better than the first one. We should use that!"  
  
Kagome took a second to push her blush down and smiled as she turned to Shippo and Inuyasha, the latter of whom seemed a little flushed himself.  
  
As they headed back to the car, Kagome gave Inuyasha a curious look and whispered to him so that Shippo wouldn't here. "That wasn't in the script." Oh, real brilliant. What the hell kind of a thing was that to say?  
  
"I know," Inuyasha said softly. "I guess I was just getting into character." Kagome doubted that was the whole truth. But what was she really going to do? Grill him over it?  
  
------------------------------------  
  
Halloween at last. This and Christmas were Shippo's favorite holidays. And the campus really got into this kind of stuff. The entire college center was hosting the party. The lounge, the dining hall, the game room, the pub, and the forum were all done up for the night. Themed food and drinks at the refreshment tables, black and orange crepe paper, fake cobwebs, window decorations, staff members in costume, blacklights and colored lightbulbs, a DJ, jack-o-lanterns, this party had everything except illegal drugs and prostitutes. And Shippo was pretty sure a couple of the idiots in this year's freshmen class were providing for themselves on that.  
  
This year he had chosen to go for an obscure homemade costume that would confuse everyone except his friends. He was Drecker from the online comic ADVENTURERS!. He messed his hair up to make it as spiky as possible, then put on a couple fake earrings and wore black trousers, a white shirt, and a blue jacket. He stuck two fakey plastic daggers in his belt to finish off the look and used a make-up crayon to draw on a goatee. Oh yeah. Stylin'.  
  
As the sun set, Shippo made his way to the college center. Kirara had said she would meet him at the lounge and surprise him with her costume. People were already arriving. There were the obligatory vampires, and psycho killers, and pirates, and just about every other cliche. There was even one of the senior guys dressed up as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. That took balls.  
  
Shippo spotted Kirara at the same time she called his name. And as she walked toward him, he found himself adjusting his pants to accomodate for the reaction he was having to her costume. She was wearing a white wrap-around skirt with blue and gold trim that connected in the front, revealing most of her legs up to the lower thighs and sandals. She had a gauzy tube top on of the same color scheme that left her midriff and shoulders bare. She used some black make-up to draw lines on her face to give her an even more feline appearance than normal along with some Egyptian-style eye shadow. She had died her hair black and wore a gold headband with a blue stone in the center along with fake gold armlets. At the top of her head were two little felt cat ears. "How do I look?" She asked, striking a pose.  
  
Shippo wanted to tell her that she looked absolutely gorgeous. "I am really impressed." Damn. "Out of curiosity... what are you supposed to be?"  
  
She laughed and slapped his chest playfully. "I'm Bast, the Egyptian cat goddess, you dork. And I assume that you're Drecker?"  
  
"The one and only," he responded suavely. He glanced behind Kirara to see that Inuyasha and Kagome had just come in dressed up as Ace and Roxanne. He couldn't believe they went through with that. "We've got company," he said to Kirara, pointing behind her.  
  
Kirara looked behind her and laughed with glee. She ran up to Kagome and Inuyasha with Shippo in tow. "Hi guys!"  
  
"Kirara, Shippo!" Kagome said excitedly. "Oh, your costume is great! You look gorgeous!" God damnit.  
  
"Thanks," Kirara beamed. "I made it myself." Shippo noticed for the first time that she had also put a long, curvy tail in the waist band of her skirt to make it look like she had a cat's tail. Kirara really put a lot of work into this.  
  
"Hey Shippo," Inuyasha said, drawing the freshman out of his thoughts. "Do you think you can stop staring at Kirara's ass long enough to help us track down Miroku and Sango?"  
  
Shippo went beat red. "Duh...! I wasn't... I was..."  
  
Kirara just smiled and stuck one hip out. "I'll take it as a compliment." She walked up to him and took his arm with a playful look. "Since all of our friends are going in couples, you want to go with me?"  
  
Shippo felt like he could have jumped through the ceiling with that one. He just smiled and worked up his smoothest voice. "Absolutely. Can't resist my roguish charms, eh?"  
  
"You could say that," she replied with a wink.  
  
"Both of you stop before I put my lunch on display," Inuyasha said with a fake gag.  
  
"Typical guy," Kagome said with a roll of her eyes. "Let's just go find them and have some dinner."  
  
"No need," came a voice from the side. "We're right here." There were Miroku and Sango dressed up as Aragorn and Arwen. Miroku was wearing make-up stubble, but his hair was still too short to really complete the look. Sango looked the part pretty good, though with her white satin dress.  
  
"Well, the gang's all here," Inuyasha said. "Now let's get down to the dining hall, I'm starving over here."  
  
"When are you not?" Kirara teased.  
  
"Burn in hell," he grumbled back.  
  
"By the way Kirara," Sango said as they headed off toward the dining hall, "that's a great costume. Absolutely gorgeous." Damn! Damn, damn, damn! Shippo could have sworn at that point that the universe was laughing at him.  
  
------------------------------------  
  
Kirara was beginning to wonder how much harder she would have to try. She thought she had made it painfully obvious to Shippo that she liked him. And now she was in the most daring outfit she had ever worn in her life to try and catch his attention. If it weren't for the fact that this was the one day of the year in which hedonism was socially acceptable, she would have felt like a slut. Was he nervous or just dense?  
  
She had to wonder about that as she helped herself to the buffet. She soon found herself next to Kagome at the salad bar. "Hey," she said conversationally, realizing too late that she failed to keep the angst out of her voice.  
  
"Something up?" Kagome asked.  
  
Kirara bit her lip nervously and decided to just tell the truth. "Well... It's Shippo. I don't know if you've noticed, but I really like him. And I don't know what he thinks."  
  
Kagome just gave her a knowing smile. "I don't think you have anything to worry about. I'll see if I can get Miroku and Inuyasha to have a talk with him this evening... Well, Miroku anyway."  
  
"Thanks Kagome," Kirara said with a smile. They walked back to the table with their food and sat down with the group, Kagome next to Inuyasha and Kirara next to Shippo.  
  
"I hear the DJ's got a lot of Halloween appropriate music," Miroku said. "Iced Earth, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Alice Cooper. All in addition to the usual line-up of stuff."  
  
"Bad ass," Inuyasha said around a club sandwich. "Normally, DJs suck. They just stand up there and ignore good requests and play all that fucking pop swill so that the stupid bitches who request it will sleep with them."  
  
"A touch bitter are we?" Shippo asked with a teasing edge.  
  
Inuyasha grumbled something under his breath through a mouthful of food.  
  
"I'm sorry, I didn't hear that," Shippo said with a smirk.  
  
Inuyasha then held out one hand with his middle finger extended and pointed down. "Can't hear this? Let me turn it up." He then turned his hand up so that he was flipping Shippo off.  
  
"That's enough out of you two," Kagome said as if she were reprimanding two children. "We'll check out the Forum when we're done eating."  
  
The rest of the meal passed with small talk. As they all got up to go, Kirara began to wonder just what Kagome had planned. Shippo had told her all about the night of the elevator incident. That girl needed a hobby outside of people.  
  
"When we get to the Forum, how about we all go up and put in some requests together," Sango suggested. "We'll go one after the other. That way we can get six songs in a row that we know we want to hear."  
  
"No objections here," Miroku said. "I hope you'll save me a dance for any slow songs that come up, Lady Arwen."  
  
Sango flushed, but smiled all the same. "As if I have a choice?"  
  
Kirara loved these people. It never ceased to amuse her how their twisted little minds worked. Now if they would just get over themselves and start making out like she knew they wanted to, it would be even better.  
  
They heard the sound of club music as they approached the Forum. The doors were open and smoke from a fog machine was seeping out from the black and orange cepe paper that had been taped in streamers over the treshold. They all walked in together and found themselves in a dark room with cheesy monster carboard cut-outs hung on the wall, spiderwebs, fog on the ground, a table at one end serving soft drinks and beer, the DJ's rig at the other end, and a plethora of blacklights, strobes, and party lights. The current music was another generic club song that consisted of little more than a drum beat and a bassline. It was cool if you were into that kind of thing.  
  
The group all exchanged smiles and went up in pairs with Kirara and Shippo going last to put in their requests. Kirara came up first and jotted down her selection: Message In a Bottle by The Police. Shippo seemed to be very secretive about his choice and simply gave her a knowing smile as they walked away toward the dance floor.  
  
"Alright!" Miroku shouted above the music. "We'll know the DJ has hit our requests when mine comes up first." That didn't take long. They only had to go through two songs when the familiar riff of Sharp Dressed Man by ZZ Top came up. Inuyasha seemed to enjoy that even more than Miroku. He doffed his coat and fedora, leaving them with the people at the refreshment table, and danced to the music, showing off in time with the lyrics. Kirara couldn't help but laugh when he grabbed Kagome and pulled her up to him, mouthing the lyrics at the last line in the last repeat of the chorus. The crowd of other dancers also seemed to find it funny as hell.  
  
When that was done, Sango's song came up next. Kirara was a little surprised to hear the intro to Float On by Modest Mouse. They all got into it though. Miroku had been rather insistent on making sure Sango didn't save him just one dance, but rather all of them. Shippo and Inuyasha draped their arms over each other's shoulders, pretending to remove hats and sang along to the chorus half-way through the song.  
  
At the end, it was fairly obvious who picked the next song. Powerslave by Iron Maiden. No one but Inuyasha. The Egyptian sound of the song actually gave Kirara an idea. She decided to continue messing with Shippo's head. She danced along with him to the gallopping beat then fixed him with a sultry look that must have really thrown him for a loop because he started to slow down and stare at her.  
  
As the chorus came up, she took him by the lapels of his jacket, swaying her hips as she lip-synched to the chorus. He was spellbound.  
  
Kirara kept repeating the process through the song, pulling Shippo out of his trance long enough to dance during the huge interlude. She glanced over to see Inuyasha holding his jacket and tie in hand and banging his head, acting completely insane through the guitar solos.  
  
As the song drew toward it's end, Kirara leaned in close to Shippo and decided to just take the risk and lay her cards on the table. "How would you like to be a slave to the power of Bast?"  
  
Much to her surprise, Shippo wrapped his arms around her waste. "Only if you'll take me lock, stock, and barrel." With that, he leaned in and kissed her on the lips. It was a kiss Kirara was all too happy to return. Heavy metal bringing people together. You didn't see that too often.  
  
-----------------------------------  
  
Miroku didn't think he could have enjoyed himself anymore. Sango looked indescribably beautiful, she was dancing with him, they were out having fun. He would have to make the next move some time tonight while the mood was still fresh. He really did want to be with her. It had taken every bit of charisma to win over her father. Now he just needed to formalize it and ask her out.  
  
He was more than a little surprised when he glanced over and saw Kirara and Shippo with a vaccuum seal on each other's lips. Iron Maiden inspired that? "I guess they're more deranged than we imagined," he remarked, pointing out the couple to Sango.  
  
Sango's jaw nearly hit the floor. "Wow... Can't say I saw that coming."  
  
"I think it came out of left field for all of us," Kagome said beside them. "I didn't think she would be so bold."  
  
"I always figured Kirara was like a cat," Sango mused. "She's done toying with her prey, so she decided to go straight for what she wanted."  
  
A throbbing bassline came up and Kagome smiled. "Ooh! My song!" When the guitarwork started up, Miroku quickly recognized it. Jet City Woman by Queensryche. Huh. That was unexpected. He thought she didn't like metal. Go figure.  
  
Deciding not to waste the opportunity, Miroku pulled Sango into a dance. He stared into her eyes as they listened to the lyrics. She smiled softly at him when the chorus came up. She stretched up and leaned in, whispering in his ear. "You're a big softie, you know that?"  
  
"It's a side of myself I only show to those I'm closest to," he whispered back. He smiled at the look in her face. They continued to dance together throughout the whole song and on into the next one, which was probably Kirara's choice. No one else in the room really mattered to them at that point.  
  
The last song is what snapped them out of their trance, though. I Believe In a Thing Called Love by The Darkness. This was the song Shippo had picked. "Hey, I love this song!" Miroku heard Inuyasha shout.  
  
Miroku and Sango both looked over at Shippo who gave them both a wink. Miroku just shook his head and mouthed out, "You sadistic son of a bitch."  
  
Shippo just wiggled his eyebrows at them and mouthed back, "You know you love me."  
  
Miroku looked over at Inuyasha and Kagome as they were dancing together. He couldn't help but feel sorry for them. When Shippo set out to enact vengeance, he laid a careful web of deception and trickery. And when the time finally came for him to unveil the coup de grace of his masterplan, it would hit Inuyasha and Kagome like a ton of bricks.  
  
Miroku almost pitied them. Almost.  
  
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Author's Notes: I was feeling very wierd when I wrote all this. Does it show? The next chapter will have more Halloween goodness to it. It's one of my favorite holidays so of course I'm going to devote some time to it.  
  
Anyway, on to my reviewers...  
  
Kagome M.K.: Your self-awareness of it made it funny instead of boring.  
  
Magellan-Chan: No hints for you. I am The Plot Nazi... New Yorkers will probably get that.  
  
Araine: Well, as long as we're bringing hospital-worthy stuff into this, I had to spend my 4th grade year on crutches because a bike accident resulted in a buckle fracture in my left leg.  
  
bluefuzzyelf: Once I actually play The Sims 2, I'll make sure to add a scene with Shippo playing it. That game will be released long before this story is finished. I mean, school's about to start up again. A man has to keep his priorities straight.  
  
Father Malvado: I never got into DMC for some inexplicable reason. What kind of bass are you saving up for, out of curiosity?  
  
kewlgurl175: I know. I think the genes on my father's side of the family were tainted with darkness somewhere along the lines. Or it might have something to do with being descended from Carpathian aristocracy... Horror fiction fans will probably get that.  
  
Gina: Bubble tea is still healthier than booze at least. Which is great if you're like me and have a really addictive personality.  
  
Julia: Now that's what authors really like to hear. That we were good enough to waste that much time on in one sitting. I'm going to go get some ice for my swollen ego. (rimshot)... I now know I'm on an ego trip because I actually thought that was funny when I wrote it. 


	9. This Is Halloween

Author's Notes: Well the massive response to chapter 8 was unexpected. I don't know why, but I never expect anything I do to really recieve any praise. I don't know why, I just do. It's at once a good thing and a bad thing.  
Oh well. This week is going to be interesting. RenFest, doctor's appointment, need to find new ways to trick Sakura into taking her medicine (she's such a brat), talk to the dean at my college to fix up the confusion with my housing and classes. Ugh. Real life sucks sometimes.  
  
Moving on...  
  
Lights, Camera, Action!  
  
Chapter 9- This is Halloween  
  
Inuyasha continued trying to straighten his hair out as he left the Forum with Kagome. He was a little sweaty from all of the dancing and headbanging. Still, it had been fun. "By the way, Kagome," he said as he fixed his tie, "I didn't know you were into Queensryche."  
  
Kagome just smiled beside him. "I went out and bought their Empire album after you played a couple of their songs on your radio show. They're pretty cool."  
  
"Oh, that reminds me," Inuyasha thought out loud. "My niece has a birthday coming up. I need to send her the present I got her. She specifically asked for Kamelot's Fourth Legacy album."  
  
"I didn't know you had a niece," Kagome remarked beside him. "I thought you were an only child, actually."  
  
"Yeah, well... I generally don't like to talk about my half-brother," Inuyasha responded, trying to hide his face by pretending to scratch at his temple. "I only put up with him because of the little girl he adopted. My niece."  
  
"What's her name?"  
  
"Rin. She's so happy it's a wonder she ever got attached to Sesshoumaru. The guy's so cold he could freeze mercury by looking at it." Inuyasha quietly wondered why he was being so open with Kagome. When he had first met Miroku and Sango, they didn't even know about Sesshoumaru until they met him months later. And Rin had come as a complete shock to them. Kagome probably... no, definately was the first person he had ever willingly talked to about his family. Yet, it didn't feel like that big of a deal all of a sudden. It just felt natural, something anyone would do. For some strange reason, there was an odd comfort in that.  
  
Kagome giggled lightly at the description of Sesshoumaru. "That bad, huh?"  
  
"Oh, I haven't even scratched the surface," Inuyasha said with a smirk. "He's so uptight, you could shove coal up his ass and he would cough up diamonds. The only time I heard him laugh, three birds fell dead out of the sky." Inuyasha went on listing various jokes he had come up with over the years for a moment, Kagome laughing more and more as they got progressively more ridiculous. "I better quit while I'm ahead. You don't want to listen to me bitching all night."  
  
Kagome's laughter slowed down and she smiled brightly at him. "Sometimes it helps to just get it all off your chest. Believe it or not, there are people in my life that really annoy me sometimes."  
  
"Like who?" Inuyasha challenged. He had a hard time believing Kagome could dislike anyobdy. He also wondered if it was possible for anyone to dislike her. Even he had come around. There was just something so pure about her. You couldn't hate her even if you wanted to.  
  
"Well, there's my three friends back home. Ayumi, Yuka, and Eri. I love them all, really. But when they get an idea in their heads, nothing short of an A-bomb will get it out again. Throughout almost all of high school, they kept trying to hook me up with this guy I had a crush on in freshman year."  
  
Inuyasha stiffened a little at that before catching himself. Stay cool. There would be plenty of time to figure out why this bothered him later. "Really?"  
  
"Yeah, it was really embarrassing. He was a nice guy and everything, but after the first date, I figured he just wasn't my type and I turned him down gently."  
  
Inuyasha felt himself relax. Damnit, what the hell was going on with him?! Why did he care?  
  
"The only problem was that my friends kept on encouraging him anyway, giving him the wrong idea. It went on until senior year before I finally just had to be brutally honest with all of them. It wasn't mentally healthy."  
  
"Now I see where you get that whole 'matchmaker' thing from," Inuyasha drawled with a smirk.  
  
Kagome just elbowed him lightly in the ribs. "So, where to, Ace?"  
  
Inuyasha looked around and spotted the gameroom where a couple of people in costume were playing pool. "You like pinball? I got a couple singles we can cash in. They've got one of the Attack From Mars machines."  
  
"Ooh, that's my favorite!" Kagome said excitedly. "Pari, she is on fire!" she shouted in a thick, fakey French accent.  
  
"Take zat, you stinking Martian pigdogs!" Inuyasha shouted back with an equally hokey accent. If only all decisions in life were this easy.  
  
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Sango and Miroku decided to take a walk outside to cool off. Poor Miroku looked like he had just been through a sauna with that heavy ranger costume. In fact, his stubble was starting to run. He looked kind of funny, actually. Running make up aside, his hair, which was starting to curl from the sweat, was way too short to make him look like Aragorn. And the tiny portion of hair he had grown out in back and had let out of its usual tail was hardly enough to compensate. As she looked at him once they were outside, Sango found herself giggling lightly, something she almost never did.  
  
"What's so funny?" Miroku asked bemusedly.  
  
"Nothing," Sango said with a shake of her head. "You just look a little funny with your beard running. Not much like a king of Gondor."  
  
Miroku just wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her toward him, causing Sango to blush a little. She kept on walking though. "Well then, I guess you'll just have to settle for Miroku Masanobu, starving artist, instead of Aragorn, son of Arathorn."  
  
"Hmm... That doesn't sound so bad. Can you at least do that look?" Sango knew Miroku knew what she was talking about. She didn't know why, but she liked it when guys could show both a tough side and a sensitive side.  
  
Miroku closed his eyes for a moment, then turned to face her with a look of smoldering intensity as she had heard it described before that could rival even Viggo Mortenson. She couldn't help but laugh and lean against his shoulder. "That's the one!"  
  
Miroku then leaned his head against hers as they walked down the brick-paved sidewalk. "Whatever it takes to make you happy. Speaking of which, would you be interested in going out some time soon with an admirer of yours?"  
  
Sango could have danced. He was asking her out! About damn time! She decided to have a little fun and tease him a bit. "Maybe," she said in answer to the question. "Is he cute?"  
  
Miroku however caught on to her little game immediately. "He likes to think he is."  
  
"Well I hope he can be a gentleman."  
  
"He has his moments."  
  
"So he has a sensitive side, huh?"  
  
"He guards it, but at least he doesn't deny it's there like other guys."  
  
"I like that. Do you know what he had in mind?"  
  
Miroku put on a mock thoughtful expression. "I believe he wanted to go by that old standard, dinner and a movie. Specifically, I think he mentioned doing both at once by wanting to take you to the Thriller Chiller Dine-In."  
  
Sango's smile widened. She loved that place. It was a restaurant in Newfield with an indoor dining area designed to look like a drive-in that showed old B-movies and schlock films on a big screen. The whole gang had gone to hang-out there last year on Devil's Night Out since that and Halloween were big events for the restaurant. "Sounds fun. What time did you have in mind?"  
  
"Tomorrow at 6:30 sound good?" Miroku asked.  
  
Sango looked up into his eyes and kissed him on the cheek. "It's a date."  
  
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Shippo was feeling higher than a kite. The girl of his dreams had just kissed him and phase one of his masterplan was underway. And the night was still young. Things couldn't get much better. He left the Forum with Kirara after sticking around for a couple more dances, their arms around each other's waists.  
  
"So what now, cutie?" Kirara asked. She sounded just as happy as Shippo felt.  
  
"How about we just walk around for a while and find some trouble to cause?"  
  
"Sounds like fun."  
  
They wandered together into the forum where a couple jazz teachers and their students were playing in the corner, all in costume. There was a large table full of candy and canned soda in tubs of ice. Shippo decided to try and steer Kirara toward that table. But she beat him to it.  
  
As soon as the two of them reached the table, they both grabbed a soda and started picking at the candy, carefully considering which one would go next and best compliment the other. "Hey Shippo," Kirara said after taking a sip fo Sprite. "Out of curiosity, why are you starting Phase 1 this early? I mean, there are months left before you spring the big surprise on Kagome and Inuyasha."  
  
Shippo just smirked. "Simple. In the words of Ricardo Montalban, revenge is a dish best served cold... Or with pinto beans and muffins. I've learned over the years the importance of subtlety." Shippo took a lot of pride in his work. His fascination with cinematic and televised comedy and taught him a lot of important lessons.  
  
"Care to elaborate?" Kirara asked with a smirk. God, she was beautiful.  
  
"Gladly," Shippo answered with his own smirk. "You've read Oedipus Rex, right?"  
  
"Naturally."  
  
"Do you remember Oedipus' meeting with Tiresias, the blind prophet? And how many times Sophocles used the words 'sight,' 'eyes,' 'seeing,' et cetera?"  
  
"Yeah." It seemed Kirara was starting to catch on. She was always pretty quick.  
  
"Well, by playing the song repeatedly throughout the next several months enough that they notice it without becoming too aware of it, the impact of the final phase in my plan will be all the more dramatic. It's a classic element used not only in drama but also in comedy. Getting it to work is the tricky part."  
  
Kirara just shook her head. "You're a genius."  
  
"Why, thank you," Shippo responded with a devilish smirk.  
  
"You're also evil," she continued.  
  
"Don't you just love me?"  
  
"Yes, I do," she answered in a sultry whisper. She took a step closer and Shippo could feel the heat in his body rising. "How about you? Don't you just love me for being a cunning little vixen?"  
  
"You're damn right I do," Shippo said through a light blush.  
  
Kirara just smirked at him as she finished off a miniature Twix bar. "You know... my parents are helping out an uncle of mine with a haunted house tonight. It's a big tradition for my father that the two of them have to spend the night scaring kids. In fact, Mom and Dad won't be back home until tomorrow afternoon... Do you see where I'm going with this?"  
  
Did he ever! Shippo took a deep breath in to steady himself. "Before we make a mad dash to my car, grab as much candy as you can carry. I'm feeling very kinky."  
  
Seconds later, half the room was staring strangely at the glass double doors as they swung closed after being thrown open by a blur of blue and white leaving a scant trail of peanut-butter cups, bite-sized candy bars, and Hershey kisses in their wake.  
  
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Kagome leaned further and focused on the little silver ball as it ricocheted through the pinball machine. Inuyasha had managed to get his name on the highscore chart at number 8. Kagome was determined to beat him. Only a few hundred thousand more points.  
  
"You only have one ball left," Inuyasha said haughtily at her side. "You're gonna crack."  
  
"Bite me," Kagome muttered as she focused on trying to destroy the flying saucer on the little screen at the back of the machine by launching the ball into it.  
  
"Remember who you're talking to."  
  
"Ask me if I care," Kagome shot back. So close.  
  
"Relax. Just because I own you at pinball is no reason to get upset."  
  
Much to Kagome's dismay, the ball shot straight down the center. She hit the flippers reflexively, but it was no good. The ball simply whizzed in between them without even brushing them. She growled a little in frustration.  
  
"Better luck nxt time," Inuyasha said with a smirk.  
  
Kagome was about to make a sarcastic comment when she glanced up at the scoreboard as it added in her bonus points. "Think again," she grinned as her score totalled up to surpass Inuyasha's by 900 points.  
  
Inuyasha looked at the screen flatly as Kagome put her initials in. "Son of a bitch," he drawled.  
  
"If it's any consolation," Kagome offered, "you're the only worthy opponent I've had in two years."  
  
Inuyasha seemed to take that as cold comfort. "Before the school year is done, I will beat that score."  
  
"I'd like to see you try." Their banter continued even as they walked out of the gameroom. For some reason, Kagome actually enjoyed these little arguments. There was no real malice or anger in anything they said. It was like a game. She had never figured herself to be a very contrary person. And yet she and Inuyasha always found at least one thing to argue over every day.  
After a minute, the argmuent just kind of petered out without either one of them really winning.  
  
They walked into the lounge in silence and surveyed the room. "Damn," Inuyasha remarked. "Someone did some damage to the snack table."  
  
Kagome looked over. Half the dishes and bowls were either empty or nearly empty. And there seemed to be a few scattered pieces leading to the doors. "Probably just a couple of freshmen who thought they were funny," she said off-handedly.  
  
Inuyasha walked over to the table with a shrug and grabbed a Coke and a couple miniature Butterfingers. "Keh. As long as they don't make off with all the food around here, let them be dumbasses."  
  
Kagome took a couple of Hershey kisses and grinned. "You know as well as I do that if you had caught them in the act you would have beaten them within an inch of their lives."  
  
"Guilty as charged," Inuyasha admitted. "I'm more protective of food than a starving dog."  
  
"Aren't they showing some movies down in the auditorium?" Kagome asked after a moment.  
  
"Yeah. A couple of Miroku's fiends are showing the old Universal Classic Monsters movies from sunset to sunrise." He shook his head lightly. "Bunch of fanatics."  
  
"Says you," Kagome said with a smirk. "You wanna go watch it or not?"  
  
"Are you kidding? Grab some Snickers for the road and let's move."  
  
On their way out, Kagome and Inuyasha recieved a few compliments on their costumes from fans and two requests for bit parts in future episodes. Kagome took down their names on a napkin, figuring it would better help the reputation of the station if they were nice to people. Besides, they needed extras for upcoming episodes anyway.  
  
The movie was already in progress when they arrived. It was The Wolfman and Lawrence Talbot was in the process of transforming. "Hard to believe people used to think this was scary."  
  
"That was before the day of shockers and slashers," Kagome grumbled. Classic movies like this were infinitely better. And not just because of the production values, but because they actually had some heart to them metaphorically speaking instead of literally.  
  
"Yeah. At least these have some taste," Inuyasha said as he took a seat. "I actually liked the first Friday the 13th movie. Guilty pleasure. But the sequels were crap."  
  
They stayed quiet through the movie. There weren't many other people in the auditorium. Just a few couples who got sick of dancing and a couple groups who just really liked movies. It wasn't too bad, actually. A little spooky. Maybe even a little... romantic.  
  
When the movie ended, one person in the front row stepped up to switch to the next feature. Kagome then realized that at some point during the film, she had taken hold of Inuyasha's arm and leaned up against him. She didn't dare move, but Inuyasha didn't say anything about it either. Kagome tried to find the courage to say something, but decided to just stay silent for the time being. After all, this was kind of nice.  
  
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Miroku decided to call it a night. He had done what he wanted to and had to get up for class in the morning. He walked Sango back to Ravencroft Hall and smiled softly. "I'll see you in class tomorrow, Sango."  
  
"And for dinner," she added. "Remember, Miroku, you better be on time. You stand me up and I'll break both of your legs."  
  
"You're beautiful when you're violent," Miroku said with a deliberately saccharine sweet voice.  
  
Sango just shook her head and smiled softly. She looked up at him and Miroku couldn't help but reach a hand up to cup her cheek. "Why couldn't you have shown me this side of yourself before?" she asked.  
  
Miroku let a little half-smile creep up along his face. "To be honest, I'm still not quite sure." He slowly leaned forward and place a gentle, chaste kiss on her lips. "I'm just grateful you were willing to put up with me."  
  
Sango looked up at him for a moment with her lips slightly parted. She had her vulnerable side just like anyone else. Those rare moments when she let it show past her strong, fiery exterior just made her even more wonderful to Miroku. She was unlike anyone else he had ever met in his life just by that alone. "Ever the charmer," she said after a moment. "Remember that you're just setting the bar for yourself when we go out tomorrow night."  
  
"I always like a challenge," Miroku answered slyly. He slowly took a step back and Sango walked to the door. She gave Miroku a smile over her shoulder as she walked in.  
  
Once she was out of sight, Miroku heaved a contented sigh and wandered off to Barker Hall in a daze.  
  
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Inuyasha had no idea what to say. The movie was over. Kagome was still attached to him. They both needed to leave to get some sleep for tomorrow's class. But this was so awkward! Kagome stood up with him and they both walked out of the audiorium and outside. Neither said anything.  
As they proceeded down the brick sidewalks lit by wrought-iron lamp posts, Inuyasha began to wonder if he really minded this so much. After all, Kagome didn't really seem to be bothered too much aside from being unusually quiet.  
  
They got to the point where the path split, one way going to Ravencroft Hall, the other to Barker. There was a long pause before they looked to each other, blushing almost simultaneously.  
  
Kagome tentatively let go of Inuyasha's arm, and he was surprised to find that he actually missed the warmth. "I-I guess I'll see you tomorrow for lunch."  
  
"Y-yeah," Inuyasha stammered. They were going to meet Shippo and Kirara in the pub tomorrow for lunch to discuss plans for the next couple episodes of Ace Space and Substance With Style. "See ya then."  
  
They continued to linger for a moment staring at one another before they walked off in different directions. Inuyasha was confused, but he wasn't quite sure how to feel about that yet. Kagome had brought about such strange reactions in him. No one had ever managed to make him feel this way. It was so wierd. But right now, he was just too tired to care. There was plenty of time to figure this out later. Maybe things would be clearer in the morning when he could think straight...  
  
Yeah, right.  
  
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Author's Notes: And another chapter finished. I'm currently awaiting the verdict from the Midnight Society on whether or not I'm in. Wish me luck.  
Until then...  
  
Mimiko: You mentioned in a pervious review that the only guy you knew who liked soaps was your brother. I was just going off on another one of my little tangents.  
  
bluefuzzyelf: I've seen the video for I Believe In a Thing Called Love and Growing On Me. My brother and I are both now convinced that Justin Hawkins is as gay as Rob Halford and Ian McKellan put together. There's nothing wrong with that, of course. It's just a nagging suspicion we have. Though it was really funny when they were fighting the space squid in the first video.  
  
Dragon of Sesshomaru: Kirara's costume is actually loosely based on a mental image from one of my more... "mature" fantasies. How many of you could have lead a nice life without hearing that?  
  
Araine: I once had my head slammed against the cornerpost of a bannister at school in 3rd grade. I'm not sure if I lost consciousness or not, but I do remember a lot of blood. Is it any wonder I turned out so fucked up?  
  
Em Starcatcher: I was thinking of being either Aragorn or Jesus for Halloween this year. I'm neither a man of Gondor nor a Pallestinian Jew, but everyone else seems to think I look like them anyway.  
  
chocobo pirate: Squirrely wrath enough to deal with all the stupid people I must put up with in my day-to-day to life. We shall all press on in the name of our Lord and Master.  
  
lilmoonDemon: Like I said before, they'll be around. Just have patience.  
  
SilverMyste: You have no idea how much it makes my day to hear that someone reads through my works in one sitting.  
  
Father Malvado: Rogues are really low-end learner brands. They're more expensive, but consider an Ibanez starter pack. Also, there will be more fluffy and cutesy scenes later. For now, there's more fun to be had.  
  
inu-sm-fan: It never made sense to me that people either make Inuyasha irrationally bellicose or surprisingly subdued. I always try to focus on the characters in all of my stories. I don't know why, but character interaction has always been very fun for me to write.  
  
Gina: Having an addictive personality can really suck sometimes, huh? Chocolate, caffeine, internet, reviews. Once I get laid I'm pretty sure I'll be addicted to that, too. Anyway, Kikyo will appear later. And which kiss scene were you referring to?  
  
Magellan-chan: I really like Foamy Fan-Mail 3, Foamy's Rant, Foamy's Dating Advice, Spell-a-caster, and Fat-kins Diet. The hospital trilogy was pretty good too along with the new Squirrel Songs.  
  
Divine-Red-Crayon: I hope this chapter clears up your questions. Miroku and Sango would naturally be in on Shippo's plan since they went to him to arrange it. You now know that the song has something to do with it, but from there, you're all free to speculate.  
  
exyvixen: In love? With me or the story? ;)  
  
beth1685: Like I said, the characters are what I really focus on in each story. You'll have to wait a while longer, but Kagome and Inuyasha will delve a little more into each other's pasts eventually.  
  
Krusty: If this story wasn't better than LTMBYM, then I would worry. In regards to why I'm still single, I don't know. Maybe I just scare people off. I'm a little wierd in real life.  
  
Bobo11: Sorry I didn't get to you before. Truth be told, I'm not very comfortable writing lemon scenes just yet. However, the story already has some risque material and is going to get a little citrusy not far down the road. 


	10. The Morning After and a First Date

Author's Notes: Let me tell you something... If you can't properly run a web site or host or server or whatever the fuck it is, then give the job of maintenance to someone who knows what the hell they're doing. All these god damn forum hosts that most of my favorite groups have to rely on don't know what the hell they're doing. My biggest issue is the host for the Paragon City forums which has gotten this bizarre notion that my account somehow exists and doesn't exist at the same time, making it impossible for me to log in. I'm currently in the process of getting that straightened out.  
This is just another example of how when people tell you not to sweat the small stuff, you just want to knock their teeth out. Yeah, I know it's a minor problem in the big scheme of things, but it's still frustrating. How many times have you felt like raging against the ATM machine because it was being slow, huh? I prefer to go ahead and sweat the small stuff, but not to spend more than five minutes doing so. Get it all out of my system with some wild, flailing gestures and colorful language. Afterwards, I feel much better. It's all off of my chest, and I can to begin to pursue a solution.  
I'm not really sure where I was going with this. I do this a lot in real life. I go off on all these tangents, and I'm sure there was some kind of point to them when I started, but somewhere along the line, that particular train of thought got derailed after leaving the station. And I'm just standing there feeling like a fool because I just rambled on as if I didn't actually listen to myself talk.  
It's times like that which make me second-guess my decision to swear off medication.  
  
Chapter 10- The Morning After and a First Date  
  
Inuyasha sat at the table with his steak and cheese sub in the pub, looking curiously at Shippo and Kirara. There was something different about them. They seemed unusually distant. They were staring at each other way too much for just that one kiss last night. What was it about them? Wait a second... those slacks. Shippo wore those for his costume last night. And since when did he own a Bob Marley T-shirt? Wasn't that Kirara's?... Oh. Suddenly, it all came together. "You two scored last night, didn't you?" Tact was overrated.  
  
Kagome nearly choked on her sandwich and the two freshmen in question simply looked up from their meals in surprise. "Huh?" Shippo asked in mild confusion.  
  
"You know what I mean," Inuyasha grumbled with a frown.  
  
Suddenly Shippo's eyes widened and he leaned back in his seat. "Oh! Oh, that! Yeah, we did. But seriously Inuyahasa, we're all adults here. You can say 'sex.'"  
  
"Fuck off," Inuyasha snarled.  
  
"What, here?" Kirara asked with feigned sincerity. "Really, Inuyasha, we're not that kinky. But if you like to watch so much..."  
  
"Gah! To hell with you both!"  
  
Kagome couldn't help but laugh. "You have to admit Inuyasha, you walked right into that one."  
  
Inuyasha just shot her a dirty look. Whose side was she on, anyway? "So, anyway, you two..."  
  
Shippo just rolled his eyes. "Honestly, Inuyasha. It's just a three-letter word. Sex. Sex, sex, sex." Shippo then went on to sing out the word "sex" to the tune of Beethoven's Fifth, The William Tell Overture, and Ode to Joy, giving each segment about ten seconds each complete with melodramatic hand gestures and facial expressions (creating a cumulative effect to Inuyasha's rising annoyance) before he paused and slouched into his seat. "Great, I've gone and turned myself on. I hear the word 'sex' and even though it's lost all meaning as a word by now, it still brings back memories of last night."  
  
Kirara leaned over in her seat and glanced down at Shippo's lap. "Better make that coke and fries last, babe," she remarked. "You aren't gonna be getting up anytime soon."  
  
Shippo just gave her a flat look. "Staring at my package isn't going to help. There'll be time for that later."  
  
Inuyasha just dropped his head into one hand. "You know," he said, lazily stirring his drink with his straw as he spoke, "this conversation could have ended about 60 seconds ago, and I would have been perfectly fine with that."  
  
That sent the whole table into a round of laughter. "Remind me to poison your food later," Inuyasha grumbled at his so-called friends. "Can we please get back on topic? The reason we're here to begin with?"  
  
"Okay," Kagome said as she slowed her laughter. "Okay. So... let's start with Substance With Style. Shippo, is there anything specific you had in mind?"  
  
"Well, all I really want is to introduce two new segments to the show. One that we could do... say, every other episode. And another that we could use to wrap up the show.  
  
"The first one I had planned was actually inspired by something Inuyasha, Miroku, and myself did last year at my graduation party. The concept is simple. Just picture this." He started making elaborate gestures with his hands as if dramatically framing an image. "Four champion students, each with a specialty. A challenger ready to usurp the mastery of one of our champions. A panel of judges. Put it all together with two kitchens, a time limit, and the kind of ingredients you'd find in a bachelor's fridge, and you've got... Iron Chef Redrock."  
  
"I'm sold," Inuyasha immediately with a smirk.  
  
"Which is just as well," Shippo said. "I was going to ask you to be on the pantheon of champions as Iron Chef Ramen Noodles."  
  
Inuyasha raised his eyebrows. "If you were paying me for this, I would say that I may very well have found my calling."  
  
Kirara had worn a thoughtful expression for the past minute or so. "Shippo, unless I'm mistaken, you're graduation party involved you guys getting into a contest to see who could create the best hodge-podge of junk food after you all mixed a Killer Shrew."  
  
"Hold it," Kagome interrupted. "Did I hear that right? 'Killer Shrew?'"  
  
"It's based on a host segment from an old episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000," Inuyasha answered. "We got a blender and filled it with... what was the ingredients list?"  
  
Shippo thought for a moment and began ticking off the ingredients on his fingers. "Let's see... Chocolate ice cream, Cap'n Crunch with crunch berries, peanut M&Ms, Mrs. Butterworth, Circus Peanuts, Mr. Pibb, marshmellow peeps, Sweet Tarts, vanilla frosting, Good n' Plenties... stick it all in a blender for a couple minutes and bottoms up."  
  
By the time Shippo was finished, Kagome looked absolutely horrified. "Please don't tell me you guys actually drank that."  
  
"What, you want me to lie?" Shippo asked innocently.  
  
"Yes," Kagome answered quickly, "lie."  
  
"We gave it to the dog."  
  
Kagome now looked thoroughly disinterested in her food. "You guys can do that segment, but I want no part of it."  
  
"That's a shame," Inuyasha said with a smirk. "I was hoping you'd like my cooking. Nothing better than ramen nachos and Nutrageous pizza to go with your Killer Shrew."  
  
Kagome just sent him a look that told him she would get even later. It was just too damn fun to mess with her head.  
  
"That same night," he went on, "inspired by the exact same host segment, we spent about thirty dollars in junk food at a local convenience store and went on to invent the Vulcan Mindprobe and, my personal favorite, the Pelican Callipso Flipper Hop-Skip-&-Go Zombie."  
  
Kagome sighed in exasperation. "Please tell me your other segment you want to do is something not gross."  
  
Shippo took a swig of his coke and smirked. "There, we can help you out. Between Kirara, Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, and myself, we have amassed an impressive collection of B-movies from the mid-twentieth century on DVD. The concept is brilliant in it's simplicity. Just show clips from the movies, turn the audio off, dub over it with our own original scripts, and then tout it as adverts, reality shows, or whathaveyou."  
  
"Okay, now that is an idea I can live with," Kagome said with relief. "Get some scripts in at the next meeting this weekend and we'll get to work on it."  
  
"Bitchin'," Shippo said with a very Inuyasha-like smirk.  
  
"Alright, now for Ace Space, I figure we need a little variety. I was thinking that for the next episode, we could do a case that seems to have a supernatural explanation, but it's really just mundane."  
  
"Oh, Christ," Inuyasha growled, "you're not gonna have us doing some retarded Scooby Doo thing, are you?"  
  
"Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of a Hound of the Baskervilles kind of thing," Kagome answered with a raised eyebrow. "And why the hell did Scooby Doo leap to your mind first?" she asked teasingly.  
  
Inuyasha shot her another dirty look. "My niece is six years old and refuses to watch her favorite show without either her father or her uncle. A whole summer of that gets stuck in your brain like it was carved in with a red hot knife."  
  
"Keep telling yourself that," Kirara said slyly from across the table.  
  
Inuyasha just scowled and raised both of his middle fingers. Bastards. The whole lot of them.  
  
After lunch, he seriously felt like he was about to take somebody's head off. After having to endure the bastards at the pub, Miroku was focusing less on his assignments and more on smoothing out every minor imperfection in his appearance. "Miroku!" he barked. "Will you fucking sit down already? You're driving me insane!"  
  
Miroku just gave an almost-frown at Inuyasha and went back to his dresser, going through his various shirts. "You'll pardon me for my nerves, but this is the proverbial finish line," he said evenly. "I don't want to trip up."  
  
"The finish line is when you guys either fuck or get hitched," Inuyasha ground out. "Whichever occurs first. Now will you chill? You're acting like a fucking woman!"  
  
"Your crass stereotype aside," Miroku said with a hint of irritation entering his voice, "how would you know how women act before going on a date? You some kind of voyuer?"  
  
"Do you wanna pick Sango up with a fucking black eye on your face? 'Cause I can fix you up." God damn, these people were annoying.  
  
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Miroku really didn't want to have to argue with Inuyasha, but his nerves were shot. This was his first real date with Sango. He couldn't afford to screw this up. He had managed to overcome his urge to cop a feel at every opportunity, he impressed her with that night at the cafe, and had even managed to win her father's approval. This was the last step and then they would be official.  
  
Of course, with Inuyasha in his current mood, it was probably best to try and collect himself and go about his preparations a little more subtly. One could easily gauge Inuyasha's temper by listening to how colorful his language was. The more f-bombs he dropped, the closer he was to snapping. Miroku often wondered how someone who was clearly such a talented actor could be so bad at articulating his thoughts. It was a very odd paradox. No matter. Inuyasha wasn't Miroku's concern right now.  
  
He spent another ten minutes trying to settle on an outfit, ultimately deciding that jeans and a sweatshirt would do fine. After all, when you got right down to it, anything else was just false advertising. Decking himself up to look really slick was going to get him nowhere. Besides, Sango had known him long enough by now that she'd probably be a little put off by him trying to be something she knew he wasn't. At least, that was his theory... For all his people skills, women were still a mystery to Miroku. They simply did not make sense.  
  
But right now, what he really had to do was stay calm. Inuyasha was clearly on the breaking point, and there was still another hour before he had to go pick Sango up. He just needed to sit down, and not think about it for a while. He had already taken a shower, he had gotten his outfit straightened out, and there was still plenty of time to spare. Everything was fine.  
  
... Maybe a touch of sandalwood cologne wouldn't hurt.  
  
Naturally, once Miroku had applied the cologne, Inuyasha sniffed audibly behind him. Oh yeah, that's right. He hated all forms of cologne, perfumes, scented shampoos and soaps, and so on and so forth. Whether it was just a matter of personal preference, an unusually keen sense of smell, or just an insecure attempt to try and prove his masculinity, Miroku would never know.  
  
"Okay, that fucking tears it!" Inuyasha bellowed. Poor guy was really having a bad day. Shippo must have been giving him hell at lunch. The long-haired young man snapped his notebook and textbook closed and snatched up his cell phone and jacket. "Come on, come on," he growled as he tried to get his jacket on one-handed while going through his cell phone's menu and holding it up to his ear. "Yeah, Kagome?... Yeah, I'm studying over at your dorm... Because Miroku is fucking pissing me off. Sango better be ready for their date because I need to get some work done!" By this time he was storming out the door with his books under his free arm.  
  
Miroku just sat there stunned for a moment. That was unexpected. Inuyasha only stormed out on people when he knew he couldn't get away with beating them senseless. Even in a foul mood, it seemed Inuyasha didn't want to screw this up for Miroku. He couldn't help but smile at that.  
  
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Kagome wasn't faring much better than Inuyasha as Sango continued to fuss over things. She was having flashbacks to the last time Sango was nervous about being somewhere with Miroku, the same night as the elevator incident. "Sango, take it easy. Just pick out an outfit that looks nice without being formal. You're going to Thriller Chiller, for crying out loud!"  
  
Sango stopped and collected herself. She obviously wasn't used to this. She had already admitted to Kagome that this was her first actual date in five years. She was rather picky about men, it seemed. Which was both a good thing and a bad thing. On the downside, you'd never find somebody perfect so there was no point in looking for that. But setting certain standards meant you were more likely to get something serious.  
  
Kagome went back to trying to study for a while as Sango tried to pick out the right outfit, finally settling on a pair of tight jeans and the pink sweater Miroku liked so much. Made sense, anyway. It was a little chilly out.  
  
Kagome glanced over at her cellphone as it started ringing to the tune of The Minuet. It wasn't that she liked that one in particular, but it annoyed her little brother to no end. Sibling rivalry never discriminated and it never rested. She quickly flipped it open and answered the call. "Hello?"  
  
"Yeah, Kagome?" Inuyasha. Wonder what he wanted this time.  
  
"Hey, Inuyasha. You need something?" she asked pleasantly.  
  
"Yeah, I'm studying over at your dorm," he answered bluntly with a slight snarl to his voice. Kagome could practically see his eyelid twitching over the phone.  
  
"What? Why?"  
  
"Because Miroku is fucking pissing me off," he snarled. Oh great. When he got foul-mouthed that meant his mood had taken a huge turn for the worst. "Sango better be ready for their date because I need to get some work done!" Same for when he raised his voice. She could hear his voice echoing off the walls now and heavy footfalls so it seemed he was already on his way over.  
  
"Alright," Kagome sighed in resignation. It really wasn't worth it to get into it with him right now. "I'll meet you downstairs in a couple minutes. What do you need to study for?"  
  
"Fiction Into Film," he grumbled on the other end.  
  
"Oh good," Kagome said with a hint of relief. "I need to study for Friday's test myself."  
  
"Cool," Inuyasha replied curtly and hung up. That man had all the charm of a surly rottweiler when his temper started acting up.  
  
"I'll be back in a minute Sango. Inuyasha has apparently gotten sick of Miroku." She stretched a moment, giving a smile to her friend before heading to the door.  
  
"I swear," Sango remarked, "you're the first person I've ever seen who can handle him so well."  
  
Kagome froze in her tracks. "What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
Sango just put a little jasmine fragrance on. "Remember the first night you guys met?" she asked casually. "That was slowly becoming the norm for him. He's contrary by nature, but I swear I have never seen him have as much fun arguing with someone as he does you. I don't know what's going on in that warped little mind of his, but whatever it is you've got, it's kept him pretty stable lately."  
  
Kagome just nodded and walked out the door to process that information. The Inuyasha she had gotten to know was much different from the one she had met that night banging his head in the studio. He was still contrary, confrontational, quick-tempered, stubborn as a mule, and he cursed like a sailor. But he did have a brighter side. He was also very strongly loyal and determined. He was a lot smarter than most people would think, he just wasn't terribly quick on the uptake. There was an odd sense of ambition in his eyes, as if he still wasn't sure what it was he wanted, but he knew he would find a way to get it. He was a very strange individual to say the least.  
  
Kagome let all of that turn over in her mind a few times as she waited in the lobby. She didn't have to wait long, though, because the object of her musing stormed up and didn't so much knock as bang on the door with his fist, causing a couple girls who were studying over at the couches to jump out of their skin. They looked at Kagome in surprise and mild terror when she opened the door, letting Inuyasha in.  
  
He grunted in what Kagome guessed was a greeting and strode in, only briefly making eye contact as she followed beside him. She faintly heard the two girls behind them whispering. "She really needs to get away from that guy. He must be one of those abusive types."  
  
"I heard that!" Inuyasha snapped testily, causing the two to jump once again and pale as they looked at him. "I'm here to study, not fucking make out with her!"  
  
Kagome shook her head and looked at the two frightened girls. "He's not my boyfriend," she mouthed with a roll of her eyes before she and Inuyasha continued back to her dorm room.  
  
Of course, no sooner had they stepped in than Inuyasha took one sniff of the air and growled irritably. Oh, that's right! Sango's jasmine perfume. Kagome remembered a couple weeks back having to endure Inuyasha's tirade on his intense loathing of "artifical smells." He must have had a nose like a bloodhound if things like that bothered him so much. But seeing as he had nowhere else to go, and was just too proud to walk out anyway, he ignored Sango's confused look and sat down in Kagome's new beanbag chair. Well, correction, "sit" wasn't really the right way to describe it. More like, he walked in front of it with his back turned then let his legs give way beneath him so that he crashed down into it like a small avalanche.  
  
Kagome grabbed her notes and flopped down on her stomach on her bed and looked at Inuyasha. "Okay, what do we need to go over?" For the next half-hour, Kagome and Inuyasha worked on making sure they got all the critical points regarding The 39 Steps.  
  
They were interrupted only briefly when Sango grabbed her denim jacket and went out to meet Miroku out front. At the thought of her friend getting to enjoy herself out on a date, the matchmaker instinct kicked in again. "Hey, Inuyasha? What do you say we-"  
  
"Kagome," Inuyasha curtly interrupted, "don't you dare finish that sentence. I have one word: no!"  
  
Kagome sighed and pouted slightly. "You're no fun."  
  
"Eat me," he drawled. "I'd just rather not have a repeat of last time. If it hadn't been for the elevator, they'd probably have gone to Shippo to find a way to rain horrible fiery vengeance on us."  
  
"True." Well, scratch that plan. Oh well, this wasn't too bad. They both needed to study anyway, and this way they had a better chance of getting things done quicker. And besides that... the company was kind of nice. Now that Inuyasha was calming down, his tough guy act was starting to fall and he was behaving like himself again.  
  
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Sango went out to meet Miroku at the front of Ravencroft Hall, where he stood patiently waiting for her in his big black duster coat. The coat aside, he really looked like the starving artist he so-often called himself. Which wasn't really a bad thing. His self-awareness of it was kind of cute. He fixed her with a soft smile and Sango couldn't help but return it as she walked up to him. "Evening," she said casually. Was that sandalwood he was wearing? It seemed like an oddly appropriate fragrance for him.  
  
"You too," he answered softly. "Let's get going. The dinner rush is about over, so we shouldn't have much trouble getting seated." He lead her over to his car and opened the door for her like a gentleman before climbing in himself.  
  
As the engine came to life with a gentle roar, the stereo immediately came on about halfway through the third verse of Layla. Sango couldn't help but smirk. "I swear you time this kind of stuff."  
  
"Whatever do you mean, my dear?" Miroku asked innocently.  
  
"That's twice now that some sappy Clapton song has been playing when I'm alone with you," Sango explained. "Not that I'm complaining, but doesn't it feel in the least bit contrived?"  
  
Miroku just smirked. "I like to think that it's just the universe trying to pay off my good karma." They both shared a good laugh at that one.  
  
Not long afterward they found themselves in the parking lot for Thriller Chiller Dine-In. It was the restaurant they had passed by when Miroku had given Sango's family a tour of Newfield, the one with the skull and tiki mask fighting on the sign. "What are tonight's features?" Sango asked conversationally.  
  
Miroku locked up his car and gave a half-grin. "Well, we've made it in time for the ending of The Screaming Skull. At 7 it's Trailer Park Hour, and at 8 they're showing The Horror of Party Beach."  
  
"What more could we ask for?" Sango joked. She took Miroku hand as they walked in out of the cold. The front was done up like the lobby for a movie theater. The couple strode up to the front desk which looked like a ticket booth and recieved a smile from the young blonde woman standing behind the counter.  
  
"Hi!" she said cheerfully. "Welcome to Thriller Chiller. How many in your party?"  
  
"Just two," Miroku answered. There was no need to ask for a non-smoking section as the whole restaurant was smoke-free.  
  
"Alright, let me get one of our servers to escort you to your table." The girl hit punched a couple of buttons on the little computer at her desk, and a moment later, a young waiter with long red hair in a ponytail and a soulpatch came in.  
  
"Hey," he said with a quirky half-grin. "Name's Rex. I'll be server for your tonight. Table for two, right?"  
  
Sango only nodded and walked hand-in-hand with Miroku through the double doors into the restaurant itself. It was all one big room with a black tile floor, tables designed to look like old convertible cars, a huge drive-in movie screen at one end, and the entrance to the kitchen which was dressed up to look like a concession stand at the other. The ceiling was painted like the night sky, with small recessed lights simulating stars. The walls had also been painted to look like scenery from a drive-in theater, complete with cheesy looking monsters hiding in the bushes here and there, and a flying saucer next to the movie screen. This place was so cool.  
  
Rex lead them over to a seat around the middle of the room and handed them their menus. He then pulled out a notepad and pen and sat down on the "hood" of the table-car. "Anything I can get you to drink? Or do you need a moment to decide?"  
  
"I'll just have a cherry coke," Sango answered first.  
  
"A regular coke for me," Miroku followed up.  
  
Rex nodded and jotted down their answers before hopping off the table with a smile and tossing a quick hybrid of a wave and a salute before striding off to the kitchen.  
  
"Nice guy," Miroku remarked off-handedly. "So, was Inuyasha much of a pain before you left? I'm sorry about driving him into your room."  
  
Sango laughed a little and shook her head. "No. But he obviously wasn't pleased about my perfume. Kagome kept him in control, though."  
  
"Oh, really?" Miroku asked with a huge grin and a phony British accent. "Kept him under wraps as it were? Know what I mean? Wink, wink, nudge, nudge."  
  
Sango playfully shoved him and shook her head with a smile. "You're impossible," she muttered.  
  
They made small talk a while longer through the end of The Screaming Skull and watched a few of the old movie trailers that made up Trailer Park Hour before The Horror of Party Beach came on. It was supposed to be a horror/musical, which basically meant there was a band in it. Specifically, a surf band calling themselves the Del Aires. They weren't bad as far as surf music went, though the middle-aged people cast as teenagers dancing to all of it was a little off-putting. The monster was more reminiscent of a Jim Henson TV show than a nuclear mutation, the acting was banal, and the directing was poor at best. Typical Atomic Age schlock.  
  
Their waiter Rex was rather amusing. Every time he showed up he had something witty to say, trying to help them enjoy the evening, and during the song sequences in the movie, he would come out onto the floor and start stomping around in circles as he was bent over playing air guitar which brought a lot of laughs from everyone who saw him. Sango made a mental note to make sure she and Miroku gave him a really good tip.  
  
The movie continued sucking as Sango and Miroku continued talking and enjoying their food. During a sequence that involved scenes of the monsters re-killing previous victims as super-imposed images of newspapers with monster-related headlines came spinning at the screen, Sango felt and arm slide around her waist. She glanced over at Miroku and caught him staring at her. She smiled gently and leaned up against him, resting her head on his shoulder.  
  
They shared a comfortable silence. They were both watching the movie, but Sango knew that Miroku was taking in about as much of it was she was. Which was to say that though their eyes were on the screen, their minds were off in a whole other little world where no one and nothing else was important. It was such a nice little romantic moment. The kind that in a movie would promptly be spoiled by some terribly contrived deus ex machina.  
  
But this wasn't a movie, thank god. They finished their meal together quietly, Miroku managing to eat one-handed as he refused to let go of Sango's waist. After they payed for the food and left Rex a generous tip, they donned their jackets and headed back to the car, Sango already missing the warmth of being curled up next Miroku.  
  
As they drove back to campus, Sango softly smiled at the man sitting next to her. It may not have been a night of bell-ringing, earth-shattering drama. But it had been so enchanting, so romantic nonetheless. "Thanks for everything tonight."  
  
Miroku glanced over at her a moment before putting his eyes back on the road. "If you'll have me for a second date, then tonight is only the beginning."  
  
The very idea gave Sango a small thrill. "I never was one to just leave something unfinished. If this is the beginning, then I wanna see it all the way to the end."  
  
Miroku gave a smitten smile as they parked beside the college center. They strolled hand-in-hand together back to Ravencroft Hall and stopped in front of the door. "There's just one last thing to do to make this a full date," Sango said.  
  
"And what would that be?" Miroku asked, even though he clearly knew what she had in mind.  
  
Wrapping her arms around his neck, Sango just smiled. "This." With that, she craned her head up slightly and kissed Miroku on the lips. She felt him return the kiss as his arms went around her waist once more. It was like a moment out of a dream. The one you got to finish before you woke up. The kiss became more passionate and Sango felt lost in her emotions. It felt so right.  
  
At last, the kiss ended, and Sango leaned her head back a little with her mind feeling fuzzy. She felt rather than saw Miroku dip his head down with his lips to her ears and whisper softly, "I love you, Sango."  
  
"I love you too, Miroku," she whispered back, unable to believe she hadn't realized all of this sooner. She could have stayed like this all night. But even the warmth of their bodies wasn't a match for the crisp November air, and reality had a bad habit of reminding people that they did need to sleep because of their responsibilites the next day such as going to class.  
  
Sango and Miroku reluctantly stepped apart, still holding each other's hands. "I'll talk to you tomorrow at breakfast," Miroku offered. "Maybe we can squeeze in another date night this week."  
  
Sango chuckled softly and kissed Miroku on the cheek. "We'll see," she said before walking over to the door. She fumbled with her keys for a moment before getting the lock open and looking back to Miroku. "Good night."  
  
"Good night." With that Miroku took a few steps backward before Sango walked into the commons and Miroku dreamily wandered off toward Barker Hall.  
  
She sighed contentedly and made her way back to her dorm. She opened the door and to her surprise, Inuyasha and Kagome were still there, but fast asleep. Inuyasha was half-seated in the beanbag chair with his back resting up against the bed and his notes sprawled out in front of him. Kagome was laying on her stomach and holding onto a lock of Inuyasha's long black hair like a teddy bear.  
  
Sango smirked as a wicked thought came to her mind. This was too perfect. She crept over to her desk and took up her digital camera. She wondered if maybe Shippo would be interested in this.  
  
------------------------------------  
  
Author's Notes: Well, another chapter finished. The next one might take some time since I'm messing with the pacing and the story a little bit. There are a few scenes in particular I have in mind that I really want to do, and sometimes being patient is difficult. For example, I have this really cute/funny scene planned with Rin during our little troop's Christmas break, but that's a way's off.  
Anyway...  
  
Mimiko: Exactly, for some reason, I'm still operating under the delusion that I'm funny because I don't actually listen to myself talk half the time. I hope this little Miroku/Sango moment was enough to catch your fancy. I wanted something with an ethereal kind of romantic charm to it. Now if only knew women in real life who were willing to give me a chance. Maybe if I can actually get them to watch the campus TV station this year.  
  
Father Malvado: While most greyhounds are about as bright as midnight in a coal chute, Sakura is quite devious. She picks the meds out of her food. We tried coating them in peanut butter, but she just licked it all off and puked the pill back up. Brat. Tell your friend that instead of pathetic, you prefer to think of it as "hitting a romantic drought."  
  
exyvixen: Isn't there a song that says you can't kill love? There should be.  
  
Gina: That's actually one of the few romantic scenes I've ever done that I was really very pleased with.  
  
Araine: My brother once almost hanged himself when he was like 2. Hard to explain. I hope you like the scenes with Sesshoumaru and Rin that I have planned.  
  
DarkRoses217: I hope you're not disappointed with my other works. They suck so bad. I actually no longer look at Kindred Spirits because when I do, I feel the temptation to slam my face off of a wall while screaming "What the fuck was I smoking?!"  
  
Divine-Red-Crayon: The Midnight Society is an internet-based writing group that pays homage to the pulp fiction era of the early 20th century. They're hoping to soon have enough material to get published, and I was invited to join them as a full-time member with my original character, the wealthy adventurer Nathaniel Christopher Lockhart.  
  
bluefuzzyelf: It wasn't the tiara that convinced me so much as it was the nipple ring. Ew. I'll see if I can squeeze in more scenes involving the Ace Spade show.  
  
Magellan-Chan: I'm going to assume the double review is because you like the story that much, and not because the whole site's been wonky lately. ;)  
  
Lady-of-the-Dragons: The thought of bringing these shows to life has crossed my mind. But even if I had the scripts, I still need money. 


	11. Shadows Out of the Past

Author's Notes: Well, I'm heading back to college. What a kick in the ass. Let's hope I can kick the bejeezus out of this semester instead of the other way around.

Anyway, this chapter will be a little short. I want to get to the Christmas segment sometime soon when the second act gets into swing and I don't want to drag this out too much...

Lights, Camera, Action!

Chapter 11- Shadows Out of the Past

Inuyasha sat alone in his dorm room. Finals were only a few weeks away and he needed to study almost relentlessly. At least Thanksgiving had provided a welcome reprieve. Rin had hugged him like a vice in thanks for the album. She had apparently developed a crush on Roy Khan, as well. Thinking about it lead Inuyasha to musing about his own sordid love life. He had never had a steady girlfriend for more than a couple months. Which was a little depressing when you thought about it. But he was about ready to declare himself a bachelor for life after what happened with Kikyo...

No! No thinking of that damn woman! He needed to study! Inuyasha felt his jaw tighten slightly in frustration. He tried to concentrate on his notes, but it was no use. That particular train of thought had left the station and was not about to be derailed no matter how hard he tried to knock it off the tracks. Damn, that kind of thing was annoying.

Heaving a sigh of frustration, Inuyasha got up and walked to the window, leaning against the frame lightly. The bitter December air had chilled the entire window, and the metallic frame was almost bitingly cold against the skin of Inuyasha's forearm. Winter always felt like his season. There was just something about the atmosphere that struck a chord with him. Well... except for Christmas. Nothing but commercialism and having joy and jolliness pumped up your ass by relentlessly cheerful and cheesy TV specials. He gave his father a gift every year out of a sense of duty. Even if he hadn't been there as much as he should have, Inuyasha still cared about and respected his father. He also gave Rin a gift last year for her first Christmas with the family because, well... she was Rin. Any feelings of animosity toward her were a hell-punishable trespass in Inuyasha's eyes.

Caught up in his fractured mental ramblings, Inuyasha almost didn't notice his cell phone going off to the tune of We're Not Gonna Take It. He briefly considered picking it up, but by the third ring, he just shrugged. Let them leave a message if it was important. He was busy being angsty right now. Of course, when he thought about it that way, he realized how pathetic it sounded and decided it was more in line with his tough guy act to simply figure that if they wanted to talk to him, they could do it when he gave a rat's ass.

Inuyasha continued to stare out the window for another few minutes. The sudden movement drew his attention in front of him however. There it was, drifting silently past the window. The first snowflake of the season. It was followed by another. And another. In only a matter of minutes, the snow fell down gracefully, but not too lightly either. In a couple of hours, the campus with its Victorian architecture and pine trees would look like your typical picturesque winter wonderland.

Inuyasha sighed once more. He wasn't getting anything done just standing here. He still needed to go over his notes on Clockwork Orange. On his way to the desk, though, he glanced down to see his cell phone once more, and figured he might as well look to see who had called him. He flipped it open to see what the number had been and nearly dropped the phone as if it had burst into flames when he saw the ten digits on the screen.

Checking to see if there was a message, Inuyasha quickly deleted it without listening to it. After a moment of thought, he went into his address book and deleted the number and the name that went with it, something he'd been putting off doing for far too long.

With that out of the way, Inuyasha flopped down into his seat for a moment to think. After a few minutes of cursing at his own brain for drawing a blank, he turned his cell phone off and gathered up his notes. He needed to get out of the dorm and study somewhere that had distractions if he ever hoped to be able to focus on his work, as bizarre as that sounded.

XXXXXXXXXX-XXXXXXXXXX

Miroku walked into the pub intent on getting a club sandwich. You can imagine his surprise when he walked in to find Inuyasha sitting alone at a table with a plate of curly fries and a coke trying to study. After his placing his order, Miroku walked over to his friend and sat down across from him. "And what, may I ask, has driven you out here?"

Inuyasha just looked up at Miroku with a very dark glare that spoke volumes.

"That bad, huh?" Miroku sighed softly and leaned back into his chair. "I don't suppose you're going to tell me what it is?"

Inuyasha merely grumbled something under his breath and downed a swig of his coke.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

Inuyasha fixed Miroku with another dark look before letting out one of his peculiar sigh/growls. "Kikyo called my cell," he drawled irritably.

"Oh. Oh!" Miroku leaned back again, eyebrows going straight up. "Oh, wow. Didn't see that one coming."

Inuyasha just changed his expression from dark to flat. "How the hell do you think I felt?"

"Did you talk to her?" Miroku asked curiously.

"No," Inuyasha drawled out. "She left a message. I deleted it without listening."

Miroku paused for a moment. Was there really a tactful way to respond to that? "I think it's safe to assume you're still pissed about that whole thing, huh?"

"Hey, _she_ dumped _me_, okay?" Inuyasha snapped. "Now she fucking calls me six months later out of the blue. Not a whole hell of a lot of things she'd want, so I think I can guess." It looked like Inuyasha was about to go into a rant. On the rare occassions when that did happen, you just let him talk because there was no stopping him without suffering severe physical punishment.

"If she thinks for one second that I'm one of those guys that you can just put on the shelf for a rainy day, she can go to hell. I tried to apologize to her. I was willing to swallow my fucking pride for her and try to set things right. But she dumps me instead.

"Now she calls me out of the blue. What the hell do you think she wants? That bitch had her chance. So fuck that shit!" By now, a couple of people were staring at Inuyasha and he took notice.

He sneered, showing his fangs and stood up, glaring at those who were staring at him. "Do I have a sign over my head charging admission? What the fuck are you assholes staring at?!"

That was enough to convince most of them that Inuyasha was violently psychotic and they went back to their meals. Miroku just shook his head at the whole display. He made a mental note not to bring this up around Sango. She had been in such a good mood for the past month, that he just couldn't bring himself to tell her. Because whenever Kikyo was mentioned, that also brought about thoughts of Naraku for Sango. And there was nothing that could ruin your day faster than the guy who had antognized your family ever since you could remember. Miroku himself could sympathize. He hated the bastard with every fiber in his body. Naraku was one person whose passing the world would not mourn.

After a long pause, Miroku got up to get his sandwich before returning to the table. "What will you do if she calls again?" Miroku asked carefully.

"Ignore it," Inuyasha said flatly.

Miroku just nodded slowly. "And if she approaches you during break?"

Inuyasha remained silent for a moment, though it was clear the wheels in his head were going into overdrive. "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it," he said at last.

It figured that Inuyasha wouldn't have a plan. He enjoyed living on the edge far too much. If he didn't have Miroku for a roommate, he probably would never get anything outside of his schoolwork done. Of course, this issue was a little more personal and a little different from essays and cramming. In fact, it was something that affected the entire group in one way or another. And that was enough to spoil Miroku's good mood. 

XXXXXXXXXX-XXXXXXXXXX 

Sango was finishing up the editing on the newest episode of Ace Spade. Miroku played a recurring character, the barkeep Slim Solomon, in this scene. He looked kind of funny with that little fake mustache they had gotten at a Halloween shop. Speaking of whom, she glanced over at her boyfriend who was just sort of hovering around, leaning forward in his chair. He had seemed unusually solemn today. Like there was something gnawing on his mind. And right now, he seemed to be staring right past the monitor, lost in his own little world.

Sango decided to try a little experiment. She leaned back into her chair, and stretched her arms up over her head, causing her shirt to tighten around her chest. When she glanced over, sure enough, Miroku's eyes went from staring blankly ahead to watching her breasts. It took a little getting used to the first couple of days they were going out, his stares and wandering hands being welcomed instead of feared. But at least this proved that he was still feeling okay. Of course, he'd probably do the same if he were half-dead.

Switching tactics, Sango went back to the editing machine and put on her best thoughtful look. "Hmm... Miroku, does this shot look okay to you?"

Miroku's eyebrows went up a moment. "Huh? Oh, yeah, it's fine."

"Aside from the fact that I still haven't converted it to black and white, the microphone is in the shot, and it's the last few seconds of tape after Shippo told us to cut?" she responded dryly.

Miroku instantly realized he had been caught and sighed as he slouched into his chair, causing it to roll back until it hit the wall.

"Miroku," Sango started with a tinge of worry, "are you feeling okay?"

Miroku hesitated before just smiling gently. "I just have a lot on my mind right now. I'll tell you about it later if I don't get things sorted out."

Sango knew he was holding something back from her. But she decided it was probably better to trust him for now and let it slide. Guys didn't seem to react well to being cornered, at least the ones she knew. "Alright. We still up for Friday night?"

Miroku's smile widened slightly and he gazed at her in adoration. "Absolutely. I couldn't get reservations at The Lighthouse, though. Would Mexican or Italian be on okay substitute?"

"Italian would be great," Sango said sweetly. She still marvelled at his softer side. He always went to great lengths to make her happy. And with that thought, Sango began to wonder if his silence had more to do with trying to avoid upsetting her than any personal problem he was having. That ruined her good mood in a hurry.

XXXXXXXXXX-XXXXXXXXXX 

Author's Notes: Okay, one or two more chapters and we get to Christmas break. I'm going to be hopping back and forth between this story and Dawn of a New Age while I have my free time. Expect most of my updates to come about once every other week and usually on Saturdays or Sundays from now on, depending on how much work I get done during the week.

I think I've finally figured out the key to writing good stuff fast: I just have to keep myself feeling up, if that makes any sense. No mood swings, fairly stable daily schedule, avoiding stress. If I can just keep myself up relatively well, then I shouldn't have much of a problem updating consistently.

While I'm on the subject of updating, I'm going to be screwing with the format for a while until the site's editor doesn't screw me over like it did in the opening of DoaNA.

By the time most of you will be reading these notes, I'll either be on my way back to college, or getting settled in. Fortunately, not much is going to be happening the first couple of days. At least, I don't think so. Which leaves me more time to goof off on my guitar and write. This should be interesting.

Now, my reviewers...

Father Malvado: I had hoped to make a Killer Shrew with my friends before going back to school, but that didn't happen. Anyway, don't be ashamed of your romantic side. It's a good selling point with women, or so I'm told. Since I plan on making that side of me public knowledge soon, we'll know for certain in a matter of time.

Izayoi: How could that ruin your breakfast? It would really ruin it if I had gone into graphic detail about just what they did with all that candy they had plundered.

Mimiko: I think I really hit upon a good point in Inuyasha's character when I wrote the dialog for that chapter. Maybe it's just me, but I can totally see a modern-day him getting loud and profane when he gets pissed off. He's already part-way there in the series.

Magellan-chan: I'll leave you all to judge whether the revenge is suitably embarassing. But there's still time, so just be patient and watch for the subtle hints.

bluefuzzyelf: What, only four paragraphs?

Gina: The restaurant at Disney is where I got the idea from. Rex is a character I play on City of Heroes (that's his secret identity at least), and his behavior is similar to one of the waiters there during one of our visits. Also, the movie you're thinking of is THEM! I love that movie. It was actually a lavish spectacle for Atomic Age film, and was the first and best of the "creature features."

Divine-Red-Crayon: If you're already screaming that at the monitor, that means I'm doing a good job. I'm succeeding if my readers are squirming as much as the characters.

inu-fanforever: The site is http:www. midnightsociety. us/ MSwebsite. html. There's not much to see at this point, as the group is undergoing some remodeling. I personally liked the old format to the site better, but whadda ya gonna do?

Cynical Chaos: I'll tell you this much. Read the last line of the chapter. You see, I'm baiting you guys to try and think here. I'm messing with your heads.

Araine: A couple years back, one of my brother's friends had his bike crash into a phone pole and he broke both of his wrists. Of course, he made good use of his "handicap" in a fight. And do you mean that you're trying to right full lyrics for the band's songs?


	12. We're Doing What?

**Author's Notes:** Let me tell you something. It's the simple things in life you treasure. This week I got along pretty good with my roommates. He took an entire case of empty water bottles and bowled with them in the hall of our suite. We then watched a couple of my MST3K DVDs. And next Friday, we're going to order a shitload of pizza and wings. It's the little things like this you come to really enjoy when you look back on them.

Anyway...

**-x-**

Lights, Camera, Action!

Chapter 12- We're Doing What?!

Kagome popped a couple aspirin and washed them down with a swig from a bottle of water. The week had been an absolute nightmare. First, one of the professors who was on the panel for Iron Chef Redrock came down with the flu and couldn't be on the show. So Kagome had to take his place. This of course filled Inuyasha with sadistic glee, especially when the theme ingredient that week was revealed to be peanut butter. It took a supreme effort of will to be able to go through with that, but all she had to do was remind herself what it would mean if they didn't nail the judging sequence in one take. Inuyasha inadvertently helped as a reminder as he stood there in his red apron and chef's hat smirking cruelly.

Then, some nimrod in the Video Editing class had wiped the latest episode of Ace Spade from the editing machines, meaning they had to spend the whole weekend re-editing it from scratch. As soon as she found out who that little bastard was, Kagome vowed to make him pay. Miroku and Sango had been pissed off about it too, since that was the weekend they had finally made time to go out together to see a movie.

To make matters worse, a blizzard came in the next day. All it took was twenty-four hours to bury the campus and most of the town under snowdrifts bigger than a person. In fact, the snow was still there. And the downside was that Inuyasha and Miroku had been cramming with Kagome and Sango in Ravencroft Hall the night that it started. After studying, they all fell asleep watching movies and awoke to find the view from there window looked less like New England than it did Norway. And the blizzard was still going.

Which brought Kagome to Day 2 of being snowed in and taking the aspirin to try and relieve her headache. Being trapped in the dorms for two days with this lot was less fun than she had imagined it would be. But that was probably because Inuyasha and Miroku couldn't change their clothes and refused to use the showers for fear of some... "awkward" situations. Add to that Sango and Miroku passing the time by almost constantly making out, and it was pretty clear why Kagome was starting to feel her last nerves fray.

She sat on the floor with Inuyasha playing cards. It's a good thing they weren't betting real money because he was a real card shark. The only person with a better pokerface was Miroku. "Straight-flush," Inuyasha announced when Kagome dealt him his two new cards and laid out his hand.

Kagome just dropped her hand in frustration. Three queens was not a match for a straight-flush. "This is starting to get old," she moaned. "There's nothing exciting about this if I lose every time."

Miroku stopped making out with Sango long enough to voice his suggestion. "We could always play strip poker."

That was of course met with a slap from Sango. "I don't think so. I'm the only one you're allowed to see naked, got that?" Of course, after realizing what she said, she turned bright red. "I mean..."

Miroku just smirked and pulled her into his lap. "Whatever you say, dear."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes without looking at the couple. "Jesus Christ. Not even two months and she's already got you whipped." That earned Inuyasha a slap that time. Right upside the back of his head. And Sango, being a martial artist could seriously injure anyone except for Miroku, who could probably get hit by a bus and live. "Ow, crap! What the hell was that for?!"

Sango just shrugged. "You deserved it. And I know Miroku is too nice a guy to do it himself."

"She's got a point," Miroku said thoughtfully.

"Wonderful," Inuyasha grumbled. "I got these two tag-teaming me now."

Kagome decided to try and alleviate the growing tension. They were all getting sick of being cooped up in there. The snow was slowing down at last, so it probably would only be another day or two before the campus was clear enough for students to travel safely. "Well we still need something to do. Does anyone have a suggestion other than strip poker?"

"Strip blackjack?" Miroku jokingly asked.

Kagome couldn't help but glare at Miroku. "Against Inuyasha, I would be completely naked in ten minutes."

"True," Inuyasha said flatly. "Very true."

Miroku raised an eyebrow at Inuyasha. "I would think you of all people would leap at such an opportunity."

Kagome felt her own face burning as Inuyasha turned beat red. "Miroku," Inuyasha snarled, "you've got thirty-two teeth. Would you like to try for eighteen?"

"Do you have any threats that don't come from Looney Toons?" Miroku retorted. That just earned him a pair of raised middle fingers.

Kagome was beginning to wonder how much longer this would last. Inuyasha was on the verge of a breakdown, and she herself wasn't too far behind. They had to find something to pass the time before they all started going at each other's throats. But what?

"I suppose we could have a little karaoke contest," Sango suggested. Inuyasha has his CD player, and Kagome and I have a bunch of pirated music.

"We could give that a shot," Miroku said with a nod. "But you mostly listen to instrumental stuff. You got anything on your hard drive with vocals?"

"A few things, yeah," Sango answered as she stood up. "Who wants to go first?"

Inuyasha stood up, signaling he wanted to get this stretch of boredom over with. "Put on track three," he said curtly as he handed her the CD labeled Custom Mix 9. As Sango followed his request, he cleared his throat and tested his voice out a bit. He apparently had gotten some vocal training somewhere along the way.

The song started with intense guitar solos before the main riff started up. Metal Meltdown by Judas Priest. That figured. Inuyasha grabbed a permanent marker from Kagome's desk, holding it like a microphone and started singing along with Rob Halford's voice. He actually had a pretty good voice. Sort of a sharp-edged growl with an almost lupine howling quality as well.

By the first chorus, Inuyasha was really getting into it. He was in one of the "power stances" like in that School of Rock movie and was layering the drama on pretty thick with facial grimaces and wild gestures. He acted totally off-the-wall through the guitar solos as well, just like at the Halloween dance. At the outro, he kept pumping his hand in the air, making the Sign of the Horns with each beat of the chant before dropping to his knees at the end, hand still raised in the air.

There was something about him that Kagome couldn't quite place. His confidence, his bravado, his Jekyll/Hyde energy. There were so many things that just made him stand out. He was his own person in so many different ways. It gave him a strange charisma. As anti-social as he was, you couldn't help but notice him.

"I give it an A for effort," Miroku remarked. "But you're still no Rob Halford."

Inuyasha just flipped him off. "Fuck off. Besides, who is?"

"Tim Owens?"

Inuyasha just scoffed. "Ripper is great in Iced Earth, but his work with Priest was mediocre at best."

"True, true."

"Seriously, he really shines though with Iced Earth. Declaration Day, The Reckoning, Valley Forge. All classic"

"Totally classic." With that, the two young man high-fived.

"Moving on," Sango interrupted, "who wants to go next?"

"Got any blues?" Miroku asked.

Sango suddenly got a big grin. "I have a better idea." She lead Miroku over to her computer and highlighted the song she had in mind. "Do you know the lyrics to that one?"

Kagome tried to lean in to get a better look, but it was no use. Though it must have been pretty amusing judging by the smile on Miroku's face. Like he couldn't believe he was about to do this. "What's so funny?"

Without answering, Miroku took up the marker from Inuyasha, holding it like a microphone just like the latter had done. "Alright, let's do this."

Sango clicked on the song. It started out a synth string intro and scrapes on the string of an electric guitar. It all sounded very dramatic, Miroku gently turning and swaying his head to the melody. Whoever did this song put a lot of effort into it. After minute, a rock beat came up along with a difficult to understand spoken word section.

"Sango, what song is this?" Kagome asked.

"Love Phantom by B'z" Sango answered with a smirk right before Miroku burst out singing along in Japanese with the voice coming out of the speaker.

It was actually a pretty catchy song, and Miroku was going along with the vocals much better than Kagome had expected. It was really cool how the songwriters managed to get the lyrics to flow so easily from one syllable to the next in such a pleasing manner. She absently wondered if this is what songs in English sounded like to people who spoke other languages.

Half-way through the song, Kagome glanced over at Inuyasha who was staring at Miroku trying to figure out just what he thought of this song. He was tapping his foot to the beat, so at least it was clear he didn't hate it.

At the closing, Sango was cheering happily. Who knew she was a fan of J-rock? But more importantly, what was she going to sing? There weren't a lot of female vocalists she particularly liked. Except... well, Inuyasha had gotten her to try listening to some metal, and if she remembered anything from those lessons she got years ago, now would be a good time to use them.

**-x-**

Inuyasha was still trying to figure out just what he thought of that song. Love Phantom by B'z, Sango had said. For some reason, he felt this warranted further investigation. "Who's next?" he said at last. "I got up and shredded my throat to give you people Metal Meltdown, now you two girls better do something damn good."

Sango just shot him a wry look. "We're doing this more for our individual entertainment, not yours."

"Point?"

"You can kiss my ass," Sango said, obviously mocking him with a bad impersonation of him.

"Don't give Miroku any ideas," Inuyasha shot back.

"Leave me out of this," Miroku calmly objected.

"Anyway, I'll go next," Sango said resolutely. She went over to her computer and put on Call Me by Blondie. Okay, so she was a fan of Blondie and J-rock in addition to Weather Report. This was an eye-opener. Of course, he was getting a little weary of the song pretty quick with the obvious subtext between Sango and Miroku as she sang with that little marker that he had picked up. It was a good thing she hadn't played anything dirty or those two wouldn't have been vertical for very long.

What was with these people and their hormones, anyway? Didn't they have some self-control?

At least Sango had a good voice. Neither she nor Miroku had any formal training like he had when he was young, but they could carry a tune. And their singing voices were pretty easy on the ears. Of course, male pride insisted he convince himself that they weren't as good as him.

When the song was over, Kagome was naturally all happy. Where did that woman get her energy? "That was really great Sango! Why didn't you tell me you could sing?"

"Because I can't," Sango said modestly.

"Nonsense," Miroku insisted. "Your voice is ambrosia, my love." It would have been very smooth were it not for the fact that his expression was pretty transparent.

"Miroku, do you actually think that being a sweetheart will get you 'reward sex?'" Sango asked bemusedly.

Miroku just shrugged. "I thought it was worth a try. I meant it, though."

"Just be patient, you lug," Sango said with a smirk. "Okay, Kagome. Your turn."

Inuyasha watched Kagome stand up and walk to her computer, a little nervous. "Promise me you guys won't laugh."

Miroku and Sango promised of course, but Inuyasha just held up a hand and raised his brows as if being defensive. That was the closest he usually came to a spoken promise.

Kagome took one last breath and clicked the song. Inuyasha recognized in no more than two seconds. Sacrament of Wilderness? She was going to sing a Nightwish song? He thought he was being a little full of himself by trying to sing along with Rob Halford, but she was trying to sing along with Tarja Turunen? She better have the pipes to back that up.

The lengthy intro finished and the lyrics began. Inuyasha felt his jaw immediately drop. Kagome was in perfect rhythm, perfect timing. She was on key and fully articulate. What's more, she had the operatic wails down perfect. Where the hell did she learn to sing like that? With formal training she could easily make it as a professional. At least, in Inuyasha's opinion. To him, any negative criticism of her voice was punishable by flogging and Chinese water torture.

As she sang, he felt himself being drawn in. He always liked this song. The mental images it called forth, the sentiments that connected with him. He wondered if she liked the song for the same reasons? It was one of the few things in this world he would ever describe as beautiful...

God, what was it about Kagome that made him feel like this? Women were too god damn confusing!

As the song finished, Inuyasha abruptly realized that he was leaning very far forward with his eyes fixed on Kagome and his jaw slack. Realizing they had seen him, he snapped his mouth shut, his teeth audibly clicking together, and straightened up.

"I was going to compliment you, Kagome," Miroku said, "but I think Inuyasha's impersonation of a drooling fanboy did far better than any words could.

Inuyasha went beet red. His face felt like a bonfire. And Kagome didn't look much better. Her blush even crept down her neck, past her collar, and vanished under her shirt as it most likely reached her- No, damnit! Don't finish that train of thought! Miroku's supposed to be like this, for god's sake! He gathered his thoughts and attempted to sound intelligent. "Kagome, we need to make a show that gives you an excuse to sing."

"What?" If possible, Kagome went ever redder.

"Man's got a point," Miroku chimed in. "You clearly have talent. It would be a shame to waste it."

"I don't know..." Kagome replied hesitantly.

How could she not know? Inuyasha was very tempted to grab her by the shoulders and ask that very question. She was a brilliant writer, a wonderful director, a beautiful singer, and she was drop-dead gorgeous! How could she be so damn modest abou-... Did he just think what he thought he just thought? Thinking was as confusing as women sometimes.

**-x-**

Shippo wrapped the blanket around himself a little tighter as he made his way out to the kitchen. Blizzards sucked. He was clad only in a T-shirt, a pair of lounge pants, and slippers. Kirara had been over when they got snowed in. And, of course, they had a personal way of keeping warm. The only hitch had been when his mother knocked on the door asking the two of them without coming in to keep it down so the rest of the house could get some sleep. That kind of killed the mood last night.

It was almost noon now, but no one particularly felt like getting up. Except Shippo, who was starving. Kirara had asked him to bring her up some food while he was down. The look she gave him made any thoughts of argument impossible. He sometimes wondered if maybe it would be a problem down the road that she could manipulate him so easily, but he always dismissed it as his male ego trying to heckle him.

Once in the kitchen, he set about putting together a tray of food. He sloppily put together some sandwiches from left overs and prepared a couple mugs of hot chocolate. He then scrounged up some fruit and took the whole box of Chicken in a Biskit. After pausing to think for a moment, he went back to the pantry and took the entire box of HoHos too.

On his way out of the kitchen, he spotted a rather large house spider crawling its way up the wall. Shippo shuddered involuntarily. Spiders. Nasty little sum-bitches. What's more, they reminded Shippo of the news he had managed to pry from Miroku last week. Kikyo had called Inuyasha. And after last summer, it was impossible to think of Kikyo without thinking of Naraku Tohya. And Naraku always reminded you of spiders. Something about that guy and bugs...

They all had their own problems with that oily bastard in one way or another. Shippo had only met him once when he visited last summer and he still hated him. He seemed to have a talent for messing with people's lives. Sango's family had put up with his for years. Miroku's grandfather had a rivalry with the Tohya family long before his son was born. And just last summer he had really given Inuyasha and Kirara reasons to hate him. What kind of sadistic mind would take pleasure in the kind of things he did?

Shippo shook his head to clear it. There was absolutely no point in worrying about this now. It wasn't his bridge to cross. This was something Inuyasha had to work out himself when the time came. He could probably use a couple friends backing him, but for the most part he had to resolve the whole thing on his own. The way Kagome had brought him out these last few months, maybe he'd be ready to face his demons for once in his life. Regardless, Shippo decided he would be there for his friends if he could when they needed him, and they would if things were about to get as complicated as he thought they were. Hopefully, Inuyasha wouldn't kill him first after the big surprise of masterplan.

All worrying was soon expelled from Shippo's mind however when he pushed the door to his bedroom open with his hip and saw Kirara's bare back facing him as she sat in his bed and channel surfed through the TV on his dresser. She turned to face him and smiled. "Welcome back, lover."

Shippo kicked the door closed behind him and smiled. "Hope you're hungry. It is damn cold down there." He set the tray with all the food on it down beside the bed, dropped the blanket from around his shoulders, and pulled Kirara into a warm embrace and a passionate kiss. They collapsed onto the mattress together and Shippo reveled in every moment of it. Her nude body pressed up against his, their lips locked together, and her gentle scent intoxicating him like a heady wine. She was his, and he just wanted a minute to soak in that feeling and drown in it.

**-x-**

It had taken three days, but at last they were free from the trap of Ravencroft Hall. As Redrock slowly recovered from the blizzard which had crippled the entire town, things went back to normal. The teachers were a little frustrated to have their plans screwed up, but finals would proceed as normal. Much to Kagome's frustration.

The first of the finals was for Fiction Into Film. Studying with Inuyasha and Sango had really paid off. She managed to breeze through it without too much trouble. The only thing keeping her from finishing quicker was the fact that the test started at 8 in the morning. As much as she hated having to move around in the mornings, she hated coffee even more.

The afternoon of that same day was the Astronomy final. Fortunately, this one was an introductory course for non-majors. That made things a lot easier.

Two days were the last of finals. Golden Age of Hollywood in the morning and TV Production in the afternoon. By Thursday, everyone was getting packed up for break tomorrow. That was when Miroku showed up at Ravencroft Hall to bring some interesting news.

"Hey ladies, you may want to visit the RA. I pulled some strings and got us a new arrangement." What was with that smirk on his face?

Kagome looked up from her packing with a raised eyebrow. "What are you going on about?"

Miroku leaned up against the threshold and pretended to casually inspect his nails. "Oh, nothing. It's just that a certain debonair producer might have managed to get the four of us a campus townhouse that will be empty at the end of break."

Sango and Kagome looked at him shock at the same time. "Say that again?" Sango said after a moment.

"I've got connections in good places," Miroku said simply. "I explained to the Residence Life office that if you ladies, Inuyasha, and myself were all in the same living space, it would be good for the TV station since we'd be in constant communication. It would also make it easier for others to get ahold of us."

Kagome arched a brow, one question dancing on her mind. "How many bedrooms are there?"

"Three," Miroku answered. "Prefurnished for the most part."

"I think I see where this is going," Sango said bemusedly.

Miroku just put on a mock-hurt look and placed his hands over his heart. "Why Sango, don't you want to share a bed with me?"

Sango shook her head, walked over, and kissed him on the cheek. "I won't object, but the clothes stay on until I say otherwise."

Miroku dropped down onto one knee and took one of her hands in his, kissing it sweetly. "As you wish, my love."

Kagome rolled her eyes and went back to packing. Those two made such a cute couple. Hopefully living together next semester wouldn't cause them to get tired of one another.

At last, Friday morning rolled around. Everything was all packed up and Kagome and Inuyasha were waiting in the lounge of the college center for their families just like in October. Just under different circumstances. Sango and Miroku were already getting packed up and were simply waiting on Inuyasha to make the trip home together.

In a strange case of deja vu, Inutaisho came in first, his only protection against the cold being a stylish leather trench coat. He held the door open and in came the Higurashi family.

Kagome immediately got up and rushed to her family while Inuyasha casually strode up to his father. "Mama! Gramps! Sota! Oh, I missed you all!"

"It's so good to see you again, dear!" her mother said as she crushed her in a hug. "By the way, we have a surprise for you." She then turned to Inutaisho. "Would you like to tell them?"

Inuyasha furrowed his brow and Kagome just looked toward Inutaisho confused. What was this all about?

Inutaisho just grinned. "I thought it might be nice if our families could spend Christmas together. You're all welcome to stay at our home as guests for the holidays."

It took a moment for that to sink in. Kagome looked at Inuyasha at the same time he looked at her. They both turned beet red. For Kagome, it was a matter of thinking about the fact that she was going to be constantly around Inuyasha for three weeks, living in his home. And after the little karaoke thing, he had been acting a little confusing around her. They way he kept looking at her...

In unison, the two of them turned back to their families and voiced the same question together. "We're doing _what_?!"

**-x-**

**Author's Notes:** Another chapter done. Now we can get on to Act II. I think I spent a little too much time building this up, but what the hell. I'm going to have to rework the as-of-yet unwritten storyline to try and make proper use of time and plot, but that shouldn't delay things too bad. Meh.

Anyway, reviewers...

**Divine-Red-Crayon:** Either your tired eye are playing tricks, or there's something you're not telling me. Anyway, Christmas break is where things start to heat up. It will get very interesting there.

**Father Malvado:** I think you'll be reasonably pleased with Kikyo as I portray her. Think about what happened in the series to make her such a bitch. Would she be that way if that hadn't happened? You have to consider that human beings are a product of their own experiences.

**Izayoi:** As I've made a theme in this story, women have an inordinate amount of power over the minds of men whether they realize it or not.

**Mockingbirdflyaway:** Eerie. On a side note, I'm beginning to wonder if I can keep going with Shippo's personality. I mean, this is probably just me being neurotic again, but so far everyone has liked him and I'm starting to wonder how much longer I can keep that up. Then again, I do this a lot, so it's probably nothing.

**Magellan-chan:** I hope you're still paying attention to those hints in this chapter. You never know just what's going to be important later on.

**Concrete Angel: **Oh, I promise that it will be most amusing.

**inulova4lyfe:** The last chapter didn't feature Kagome because I intended to give a quick spotlight into the lives of Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango and show that they did have a life before Kagome came along. That chapter was about them. That's part of the challenge of doing an ensemble piece like this. I have to balance out time for the characters and make sure they get appropriate stage time.

**Sea Temptress:** Maybe not so dramatic, but... Anyway, City of Heroes is an online game in which you can create and play a superhero in a near-future reality with other superheroes. Shippo mentioned it a few chapters back.

**Araine: **I'd like to see them sometime. It's quite flattering. I'm working on Bad Moon right now, but I can't seem to get the flow right.

**SakuraBaby:** I hope this wait wasn't too long.

**Fanny T:** Yeah, there are a couple things here and there I want to improve on, but it's good to know that the visual, cinematic element I try to work into my writing is coming through. In regards to your comment in the review for LTMBYM, tell your friends if they want terrible noise music, leave Blind Guardian alone and pick up a Cannibal Corpse album. I admit, death metal is extremely technically demanding music, but I have a hard time liking a band or taking them seriously when they have a fixation on forensic pathology that leads to song titles such as "Devoured by Vermin," "Hammer-smashed Face" and "Meathook Sodomy."

**demented-squirrel:** Why do I always say everything I write is bad? Because I'm crazy.

**Darkness-Kitsune:** This is the second time I've been a participant in fanfic payola. I'm actually feeling pretty good about this.

**Decrescendo:** Revulsion was the reaction of most people I know to the Killer Shrew. Though your concoction sounds interesting. And I backtracked on Chapter 5. I actually did write her putting her shirt back on. But it was a few words at the end of the sentence and pretty easy to miss.


	13. Home for the Holidays

**Author's Notes:** Took me long enough didn't it? Happy Holidays!

Lights, Camera, Action!

Chapter 13- Home for the Holidays

Inuyasha started packing up his car and his father's with all of his possessions since he'd be moving into a new townhouse next semester. His nerves were getting to him, though. Kagome was going to be spending the holidays with him, and then they would be spending a semester together under the same roof. This just made things even more complicated than they were before. He was hoping a little time away from her would give him some time to get his scrambled thoughts sorted out. But now...

Still, it couldn't be all bad. He just had to stay cool and not worry about it too much. Picking his confidence back up, he finished packing everything in.

"Aren't you cold?" came a voice from behind.

Inuyasha looked over his shoulder to see Souta. It was true that the air was pretty chilly out... Alright, that was an understatement. It was 10 degrees, sans wind-chill. But Inuyasha was never really bothered by temperature. Which was why he standing out there right now in his usual jeans and T-shirt. "Meh, I'm fine," he said dismissively. He was about to get into his car, when Souta's voice caused him to stop dead in his tracks.

"Hey, Mom? Can I ride home with Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha looked up at the Higurashis, not daring to betray a single emotion. He didn't want the desperate "NO!" look to touch his face. For one thing, he'd probably offend them, and for another that would just prompt Kagome to give Souta the go-ahead.

He glanced over at Miroku and Sango as they packed up their cars, hoping to get some help, but they just smirked at him. Bastards. And he didn't have to look over to know that his father was giving that infuriating smirk that Inuyasha had inherited.

The whole fucking world was against him.

"Well..." Mrs. Higurashi paused and looked to Inuyasha then Kagome. "If it's alright with your sister and if Inuyasha doesn't mind..."

"It's okay with me, Mama," Kagome said cheerfully. You bitch.

"I don't think Inuyasha will mind," Inutaisho said from behind his son. "I think he enjoys having a fan." You'll pay for that later, old man.

"Well, alright then," Mrs. Higurashi said with a smile.

Souta smiled ear-to-ear and hopped in the passenger-side of Inuyasha's car. Heaving a quick sigh, Inuyasha climbed in and started the car up, glancing at the boy beside him. Hopefully putting on a couple CDs would keep the conversation to a minimum. He was not good with kids.

He started up the car and immediately tried to settle on a CD. He decided against Iced Earth. He had just found this morning that the band had called off touring until next year due to medical reasons, so the concert he had gotten free tickets to wasn't going to happen. He instead decided on some Edguy.

Of course, right from the synth/spoken intro, Souta had to start talking. "What band is this?"

"Edguy, Hellfire Club," Inuyasha answered flatly. There was silence for a minute as they slowly pulled out of campus and the opening song, Mysteria, went into the first verse.

"This singer sounds kind of like Bruce Dickinson," Souta remarked. "The guitars sound more like Judas Priest, though."

Inuyasha's eyebrow shot straight up and he looked at the boy next to him from the corner of his eye. "You like Maiden and Priest?"

Souta smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

That one came out of left field. Inuyasha glanced back and forth between Souta and the road several times. When they reached a stoplight he turned to face the boy. "Hey kid?"

Souta looked over at Inuyasha who promptly gave him the Horns, a gesture which Souta was all too happy to return.

**-x-**

Kagome stared out the window at passing traffic as they slowly made their way out of Redrock. Spending the holidays with Inuyasha was definitely going to be interesting. Hopefully her friends would understand. Though maybe this would give Kagome a better chance to find out just what made Inuyasha tick. Trying to figure out what went on in his head was trying to decipher the ramblings of a madman. Just with more profanity. Speaking of which...

"I hope Inuyasha remembers to keep his language under control," Mama remarked. "Inutaisho told me that boy has quite a mouth on him."

Kagome had to smile. Her mother was always so protective. But Inuyasha would know to watch his mouth around Souta. He had a sense of decency despite all odds. "I don't think it will be a problem."

A couple minutes later, they pulled up to a stoplight beside Inuyasha's car and Kagome burst out laughing at what she saw. She tapped her mother's shoulder and pointed to the car opposite them. The music was loud enough to faintly hear it through the glass and over the engine. Inside the car, Souta was headbanging and playing air guitar while Inuyasha sang along.

The pied piper never, never, never, never dies

Oh he never, never, never dies

Never, never, never dies

Never, never dies

Never, never dies

Never, never, never, never, never, never, never dies, right!

Oh yeah!

"I think they'll be getting along fine," Kagome said with a smile and a wink.

The rest of the drive passed with light conversation. Mama kept checking the directions to the Takamura house, and within a couple of hours, Kagome found herself in an upper middle class neighborhood with fancy Victorian styled homes and big lawns and gardens all covered in a blanket of snow. With all the decorations and lights out, each and every lot looked like it could have been on a Christmas card.

They pulled up to a house and parked in the driveway behind Inuyasha and his father. No sooner had they all climbed out of the cars, than a little dark-haired girl burst out of the front door and charged at Inuyasha. He knelt down and held open his arms, which the girl jumped into with a shout of joy. "You're home! Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas, Rin," Inuyasha said with one of his rare genuine smiles. "We brought some friends."

Rin smiled and waved at everybody. "Hi!"

Kagome smiled and waved back. So this was Rin, eh? She was adorable!

"Inuyasha," Rin said mischievously, "can I open one of my presents today? Sesshoumaru said I can't."

Inuyasha lifted an eyebrow. "I don't know. Have you been giving him a hard time?"

Rin just giggled and shook her head. "Nope."

"Not the answer I was looking for, but..." Inuyasha dug around in one of the thigh pockets in his carpenter's jeans and fished out several Yu-Gi-Oh! booster packs. "Let's just keep this between you and me, eh?"

Rin squealed happily and hugged Inuyasha around the neck. "Ooh, thank you, thank you!"

"I told you not to spoil her," came a cold voice from the house. Kagome looked over to see a tall young man a few years older than Inuyasha with insanely long platinum hair... or was it a tall young woman? No, no, it was a guy. The voice was too masculine. Whoever this guy was, he was almost too handsome for masculinity. Which was kind of hot and kind of creepy at the same time. Kagome wasn't quite sure how to feel about that just yet. Either way, he had a look that could make birds drop dead out of the sky.

"Is it just me, or did it just drop another 10 or 20 degrees out here," Inuyasha quipped with a smirk.

"Inuyasha, I didn't know you had a sister," Souta remarked looking at the newcomer.

At that, Inutaisho tried to hold back his chortling while Rin erupted into a fit of giggles and Inuyasha lost his composure after only a second and burst out laughing. Kagome and her mother had to try and stifle their own desire to laugh.

"That would be Inuyasha's older brother, Sesshoumaru," Inutaisho said after composing himself.

Sesshoumaru gave what might have been a scowl on his placid face when Souta, rather than apologizing just laughed along with Inuyasha and Rin. Gramps humphed and mumbled something about "disrespectful youngsters," but the scene was just too priceless to let go.

"Let's get out of the cold," Sesshoumaru said flatly. "Rin, come along."

Inuyasha set Rin down who waved at everyone again and trotted off into the house with Sesshoumaru. "Alright," Inuyasha said once Rin was with his brother, "let's get unpacked. I hate snow."

**-x-**

That evening, Inuyasha stood out on the back porch with a mug of hot chocolate. Gourmet white chocolate, to be exact. So he had a sweet tooth. He wasn't ashamed of it. It was odd how he took pleasure in this sort of thing. It was below freezing outside, and he hated snow, but he liked watching it fall. So he just stood out there sipping on hot chocolate and watching the snow fall in jeans and a hoodie. It was one of the few things that helped him relax that didn't involve loud music and lots of movement.

Inuyasha heard the French doors open behind him and caught the scent of Kagome's shampoo. Normally, that kind of thing bugged him to no end. But this particular scent seemed natural. Whatever it was she used, it seemed to have been made particularly for her. It smelled like... damn it, it was too difficult to describe. "Hey," he drawled softly.

"Hey," she returned. Kagome stepped up beside him in a sweater with her own mug of hot chocolate. "You people have great taste. I love chocolate raspberry."

Inuyasha quietly filed that away mentally. He had Christmas shopping to do tomorrow. The cards he gave Rin were just something he had done for the last two years. It was becoming a tradition to give her something small early. Right now he had to shop for his father, Rin, Miroku, Sango, Shippo, Kirara... Sesshoumaru, unfortunately... and now he had to add Kagome to the list. But he wasn't even sure where to start. "You going Christmas shopping tomorrow?" he asked conversationally.

Kagome nodded as she sipped from her mug. "I still have a few people left on my list. You?"

"Likewise," he answered flatly. It wasn't necessarily a lie. Just sort of implying... stuff... or something like that.

"You know," Kagome started wistfully, "I used to watch the snow with my father. We would sit outside like you and I are now and talk about the most unimportant things in the world... watching the snow fall the whole time."

Inuyasha looked down out of the corner of his eye at Kagome. She had a sad smile on her face. He could sympathize. He still missed his mother after all these years. "Yeah," he said. It came out kind of a throaty purr, but he didn't really care.

A moment of silence passed. Kagome shivered lightly and smiled as she turned to the door. "I'm going back inside. I've got a busy day ahead of me tomorrow. Good night, Inuyasha."

"Night," Inuyasha replied. He watched her go back inside and shut the doors behind her.

Christmas. Much as Inuyasha had a hard time getting into the season, he did take the gift-giving seriously. It was something his mother instilled in him. Finding a gift that someone would appreciate was a sign that you took the time to know them and the things that made them happy, and that you wanted to make them happy.

And with Kagome, it really had to count. After all, the crew wouldn't be where they were if it weren't for her... Wait a minute... That was it. Inuyasha smiled softly as he realized just what he could do for Kagome. He'd have several stops to make at the mall tomorrow. There was a couple of clothing stores he'd have to stop at, as well as the bookstore. And he'd have to put a call into Shippo for some digital photos. But if this worked out, Kagome would really appreciate this.

Inuyasha turned and stepped back into the house with a grin. He was patting himself on the back for this idea right up until he went to bed.

**-x-**

**Author's Notes: **Better late than never. Unfortunately, the true Christmas episode will come about a day or two after Cristmas Day itself, but just think of it as a belated gift. Between this and my screenplay (which I plan to actually produce after graduation in 2007) guess where my priorities lie?

Anyway...

**InuGoddess:** It's good to know that I have a knack for character actions. At college, I learned even more about it than before, and I think it's helped significantly.

**SakuraBaby:** I assure you, there is fluff on the horizon.

**Divine-Red-Crayon:** Relax, it's just your imagination. Next chapter, you'll all get a full explanation for why Inutaisho is acting around Mrs. Higurashi the way he is.

**Mimiko:** As you may have guessed by now, yes I will be writing out the Christmas togetherness. In graphic detail. Feel free to interpret that any way you want. Also, there's another karaoke scene coming up featuring Rin. Watch out for it.

**Gina (Sea Temptress): **Just wait and see how the townhouse scenario pans out. I think you'll all be quite amused by it.

**Izayoi:** Unfortunately, cyberspace deminishes the power of feminine wiles, so I ended up putting schoolwork higher on my list of priorities than these stories. Good try though.

**jess16:** I figure there's really no reason for me to lie around here. In a community like this, you can wear your emotions and thoughts on your sleeves.

**Concrete Angel:** I'm assuming that right about now, your roommate isn't around to smack you. Go ahead, make some noise!

**Fanny T:** If you want hilarious, check out Running Wild. They sing about pirates! It doesn't get much cooler than that.

**bluefuzzyelf:** Again, it's all in your head. I hope by now you've gotten around to checking out Nightwish. They're one of my favorite bands. I'm watching their website like a hawk so that I can nab some good seats the instant tickets go on sale for their concert in Worcester, Maryland.

**Araine:** I'd love to see the lyrics you wrote to A Method to My Madness. I've actually been experimenting with songwriting and am currently working on a rock opera about Vlad the Impaler. Morbid, I know, but if you do your research, it really is a fascinating story.

**Yabou:** I've had moments like that.

**Hanyou-ass:** I haven't given up yet. I've still got a lot of work to do. As mentioned before, I'm working on a screenplay that I hope to have produced in a couple of years, so a lot of my energy outside of schoolwork is going to be dumped into that.


	14. Christmas Eve

**Author's Notes:** The flu sucks. It's been kicking my ass all day as I write this, but I think I can shake it off soon. Either way, I'm not getting to sleep anytime soon, so I'm writing instead.

Lights, Camera, Action!

Chapter 14- Christmas Eve

Inuyasha finished very carefully wrapping Kagome's present in his room, and the inconvenient position meant his back was now killing him. Hopefully this would be worth it. Kagome's gift was by far the most elaborate he'd come up with. There was a square, flat package with a rectangular package underneath it, and a round box on top of them both. The three packages were bound together with ribbon, and a tag bore Kagome's name. She better like this, or Inuyasha would probably end up knocking his head into the wall long enough to leave a permanent imprint of his face. Unfortunately, no matter what she would never appreciate the fact that he spent his entire morning doing this, trying to beat the crowds at the mall while everyone else slept in until noon. He certainly wasn't about to tell anyone that he would disrupt his precious sleep schedule for one individual person.

Of course, that meant he'd have to go shopping with Kagome, Souta, and Rin to pick up gifts for everyone else. He had to keep up appearances. This was probably the most elaborate Christmas he'd ever devised.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome's voice called from downstairs. "We're ready to go shopping!"

"Be right there," Inuyasha answered. He grabbed up his leather jacket and wallet and trotted down the steps where Kagome and the two kids were waiting. They all went out to Inuyasha's car when he realized that his car was clear of snow, unlike the others. Please, please, please not let them notice. Act casual.

They climbed into the car and no one said anything. So far so good.

"Huh," Kagome remarked looking at the windshield and hood. "I just noticed..."

Oh shit. Better nip that in the bud. Inuyasha turned on the ignition and hit the CD player before Kagome could finish. This was Custom Mix 5, which opened with a pair of Children of Bodom tracks. Perfect.

"What the hell?" Kagome protested the instant Alexi Laiho's "singing" came in.

"Children of Bodom," Inuyasha casually answered as he backed out of the driveway. "Finnish power metal with harsh black metal-style vocals."

"Is this what all black metal singers sound like?" Souta asked curiously.

"Some of them," Inuyasha answered. "There's also guys like Dead, Cronos, Abbath, Tom Warrior, Maniac..."

"The more I learn about your taste in music," Kagome said while gently shaking her head, "the more you scare me."

Success. Crisis averted. "Actually, I'm not a huge fan of black metal. Just some of it. I prefer classic metal and power metal."

"How many different kinds of metal are there anyway?" Souta asked.

"Oh let's see..." Inuyasha tried to tally up the genres he knew while keeping his mind on the slushy roads. "There's classic, power, black, death, speed, thrash, shred, NWOBHM, progressive, doom, sludge, Viking, folk, grindcore... A whole bunch of fakey genres too like math metal."

Kagome just raised an eyebrow. "I find it a little unnerving that people put that much thought into heavy metal."

"Why's that?" If this was going where Inuyasha thought it was, he might actually win this argument for once.

"I don't know. It just seems really weird. The music hasn't been around for more than 30-some-odd years and people keep making up all the genres to describe it."

"There are even more genres and sub-genres for books, you know."

"Well books have been around for centuries."

"So?"

"Well... you know it's older, and..."

"So because something's older, it's more valid?" Oh yeah. He was going to win this one.

"Well... the thing is..." It was probably wrong to enjoy watching her squirm, but this was too much fun.

"Kagome, I guarantee you that if Beethoven were alive today, he would be drinking buddies with Fast Eddie Clarke, Lemmy, and Alice Cooper."

Kagome opened her mouth to say something, but just stared at Inuyasha in surprise for a moment before closing her mouth and looking out the window. Inuyasha flashed a quick Horns over his shoulder at Souta and Rin in triumph. He'd been waiting forever to use that line.

**-x-**

Miroku was out shopping at the town mall. Sango had invited him to spend Christmas with her family since his father had finally done something smart and sent himself to detox the day Miroku came home. He wouldn't be out until some time after New Years, but at least he finally decided to start cleaning himself up.

Miroku had already gotten Sango's gift that he would allow her family to see. The other one... well, one only needed to see the Victoria's Secret bag stuffed secretly into the Bed, Bath, and Beyond bag to figure out what he had in mind. Sure he knew he wasn't getting laid anytime soon, but he could wait. And since he caught a glimpse of the black thong sticking out of Sango's jeans the other day, he figured she did intend on eventually showing him what her underwear drawer consisted of. This would simply be the romantic/erotic flattery that would score him some brownie points.

He had gotten gifts for Shippo and Kirara off of , so now he needed to get something for his father when he came back as well as Kagome and Inuyasha. Inuyasha was easy to shop for, at least. Miroku was on a first-name basis with the guy at the music shop, so he could score Inuyasha those Running Wild albums he'd been drooling over. Kagome was a little harder, though. After wandering the mall for over an hour, he finally figured the best he was going to do this year was a gift card for SunCoast. He didn't really like giving gift cards, but Kagome was never terribly specific about what she wanted for Christmas, and her tastes were so eclectic it was like working with a blank slate: there was almost nothing to go on.

Rin would be easy to please at least. Another couple packs of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards would make her happy. Normally, Miroku would feel kind of cheap giving her stuff like that, but she treated those things like gold. A box of booster packs was her equivalent to a pony.

With shopping out of the way, Miroku made a stop at the food court. Cheese fries and on Orange Julius were a tradition for Christmas shopping. For him, anyway. He was just getting in line however when he heard a familiar voice ring out.

"Alright! That's it!"

Inuyasha. Miroku could only imagine. He swiftly exited the line and moved out of the food court. He leaned up on the railing and looked down to the floor below. A crowd was gathering at the scene. Kagome, Souta, and Rin were standing in line to see the mall Santa. Inuyasha was a few feet away, the center of attention as he pinned a guy to the side of a support column. Miroku recognized the guy and the other one with him who backed off at a scowl from Inuyasha who then turned to face his prey. They were a couple of rejects from high school who got expelled from the community college in their first year for substance abuse. They were always loitering and trying to stir up trouble in their teen years. It didn't look like much had changed.

Miroku leaned forward some more to listen in. Everyone around them was quiet with shock, so it was easier to hear.

"Listen to me as hard as you _fucking_ can," Inuyasha slowly snarled. "Those kids say that the guy in the chair is real. And what they say goes, because it's Christmas. And if you want to fucking ruin it for them because you feel bad about your microscopic dick, then I'm going to beat you to death with a plastic reindeer. Got it?"

The dreg merely nodded, unable to speak from fear. Those guys were always troublemakers, but they were also cowards. Miroku could only smirk in sadistic satisfaction at them getting a little comeuppance.

"Good," Inuyasha growled. "Because if you two assholes mess with the kids again, I'm going to ring in the new year by drinking eggnog out of your fucking hollowed-out skull and giving my little niece your fucking spine to use as a jump rope." With that, Inuyasha carelessly tossed the man aside and stood beside Kagome, Rin, and Souta just outside the velvet ropes of the line.

Everyone was staring, unsure whether to call security or applaud Inuyasha. Miroku decided to break the silence and shouted down at the group, "This is a Kodak moment. Inuyasha saves Christmas."

Inuyasha looked up in slight surprise then narrowed his eyes. "Miroku... don't make me come up there," he said half-jokingly, and half-exasperatedly.

**-x-**

Kagome looked on speechless. One moment, these two jerk-offs were hassling the kids about the mall Santa not being real. The next, Rin started getting upset. Before she knew it, Inuyasha, who had only grudgingly agreed to accompany them for a photo with Santa, had jumped over the velvet ropes holding the line and pinned one of the idiots to a column and chewed him out. The excessive profanity wasn't too good considering all the little kids around, but still.

And then Miroku showed up and soon descended the escalator to join them. "Didn't know you had it in you, man," Miroku said with a smirk as he approached.

Inuyasha just shrugged and got back in the line, promptly getting hugged by Rin. "I've got my moments," he said coolly as he patted his niece's shoulder.

He certainly did. And when they came out, Kagome wasn't sure whether to scold him for going overboard or hug him. She briefly entertained the idea of giving him a not-all-that-chaste kiss as another option, until she realized just what she was thinking and turned away blushing. Why was it that lately she had been having these thoughts? Sure Inuyasha was cute, but he was a pain in the ass most of the time. He was pushy, cold, stubborn, short-tempered, reclusive... Then again he was also intelligent, loyal, witty (albeit slow on the uptake sometimes), dedicated, and charismatic. Gah, it was happening again! She couldn't think of one fault in him without thinking of a compliment that evened it out. And even in finding fault with him, it was so charming.

"Kagome?"

Kagome blushed as she realized she had been staring at Inuyasha in her own little world. She shook her head to clear it, trying to dispel all of those adjectives she was coming up with to describe his voice. "Sorry," she said with a nervous smile and an unbearable warmth in her face.

Inuyasha just pointed one finger forward ahead of them with a raised eyebrow.

Kagome glanced behind her shoulder to see that the line had just moved forward again. With a nervous laugh, she stepped up along the line with Inuyasha, Souta, and Rin. Miroku tossed of a brief good-bye to resume shopping and Kagome spent the next couple of minutes trying to push the blood down out of her face.

Rin went first then waited by Santa's chair as Souta went next. After he was done, they were going to take a group picture. Kagome had finally calmed herself enough so that she wouldn't be bright pink in the photo when suddenly Inuyasha stopped scanning the crowd and his eyes widened.

"Oh shit," he cursed under his breath and quickly tried to hide himself behind Kagome while trying to stuff his long hair into his jacket. This was of course made difficult by the fact that he was nearly a head taller than her.

"Inuyasha," Kagome asked in confusion, "what are you doing?"

"Trying to avoid notice," he hissed back.

"You're doing a great job of it," she replied sarcastically. "What are you trying to hide from anyway?"

"My ex," Inuyasha hissed again through clenched teeth. "The last person I want to see right now." He gestured one finger behind Kagome.

She turned and immediately figured out whom it was he was talking about. Striding through the mall with a single bag in her hand and a purse on her shoulder was a gorgeous woman about their age with black hair that hung down to her waist and brown eyes. With her looks and her clothes, she could have been a model. Yet there was also a strange detachment to her. As if she didn't want to get close to people. Combine that with her looks and the fact that she seemed to glide instead of walk, and you would have thought she was some kind of ghost. "You mean the Supermodel of Christmas Past over there?" Kagome asked, knowing the answer already.

"That's the one," Inuyasha whispered. "She gone?"

Kagome watched as the infamous Kikyo turned a corner and vanished. Now she knew what this girl looked like. That was the girl who had left Inuyasha such a wreck when they first met. She didn't look all that bad. But then again, appearances can be deceiving. She'd have to get the truth out of Inuyasha sooner or later. One way or another she'd find out what happened between those two. "Coast is clear," Kagome answered at last.

**-x-**

Christmas Eve at last. Sango kept looking out the window waiting for Miroku to drive in through the light snow falling to the ground. It was unfortunate that his father picked now of all times to leave the house, but at least it was to get himself cleaned up. That man had been beating himself up needlessly for so many years.

Kohaku and Sango's father were in the kitchen finishing up on dinner. Her family always seemed to unconsciously defy stereotypes, gender roles, and expectations. Whereas all the wholesome Christmas specials that got replayed on the TV every year showed the women cooking, Sango and her mother didn't dare go within five feet of a stove. Growing up, Sango's mother could beat up any guy who crossed her, usually out-matched the jocks, and wasn't afraid to curse like a sailor when she was angry. But if she tried to even boil water, some accident was bound to happen. Sango inherited that, and now it seemed the only appliance that wouldn't turn into a disaster at her touch was a refrigerator. Not that she minded. That just meant she got to relax on Christmas while her father and Kohaku did all the work. And in the case of this Christmas, watch for her boyfriend.

Speaking of whom, his car pulled into the driveway and he stepped out with a large plastic bag in hand. Sango immediately got up to go meet him at the door and stepped into the foyer just as he came in. "Evening, beautiful," he said with a smile.

Sango just smiled softly and gave him a peck on the lips. "Glad you could make it. Dinner'll be ready in a few minutes."

"Cool," he said as he slipped off his coat. He then reached into the bag and pulled out a rectangular package in red wrapping paper. "Here," he whispered. "Take this up to your room and don't let your father see it. If he finds out what's in there, I'm not sure I'll live to see the New Year."

Sango had a pretty good idea of what was in there, but said nothing. She just took the package and quietly went upstairs, depositing it on her bed. This promised to be a very interesting Christmas indeed.

She went back downstairs to see Miroku helping to set the table as her father brought the turkey out. The dinner opened with very light conversation. Sango was kind of hoping it would stay that way. Her father was still being very protective.

"So Miroku," her father began, "you'll be staying the night, correct?"

Uh oh. Red alert. Set-up in progress.

"I believe that was the plan, yes," Miroku said evenly before taking seconds on the turkey and sweet potatoes.

"Well, the only room available right now is Sango's." There was only way he could say that so evenly. Set-up. Sango called that one.

Miroku simply looked up, masking his surprise at that statement, meeting eyes with Sango's father. There was a brief paused. "Well... assuming you're not kidding, I'm guessing there's a 'look but don't touch' rule, meaning I'll be sleeping on the floor... or something to that effect."

"Smart man," Father answered. "I'll set up an air mattress for you after we clear the table."

That was a close one. Miroku somehow knew what to say and when. And now that he was exercising some self-control over his hormones, Sango couldn't stop thinking about how wonderful he was. Which of course led her to wonder what that mysterious gift on her bed was. Oh well, she'd find out tomorrow.

**-x-**

At the Takamura home, everyone was gathered in the living room watching The Nightmare Before Christmas. It was a tradition in the family, seeing as it was the only Christmas-related movie Inuyasha could sit through, let alone enjoy. But that was mostly because Danny Elfman would always be cool, and Tim Burton was god.

Rin fell asleep by the time Halloween Town was getting ready for Christmas, and Souta konked out not long after. Pity. Great kids, but no staying power.

Of course, that was when Inuyasha felt a weight on his shoulder and noticed Kagome starting to doze off against him. His face heated up, but he tried to act casual. This girl had a way of getting to him even when she wasn't fully conscious. Everyone noticed of course, but luckily none of them said anything. Inuyasha just wanted to finish the movie. Or at least get to the scene where Jack fought Oogey-Boogey. That whole scene was a masterpiece. He remembered seeing it in theaters for the first time. One of the coolest things he'd ever seen at that point in his life.

The movie went on a little longer, and Kagome completely dozed off, snuggling up to Inuyasha closely and causing a few reactions which her mother was bound to notice. He fidgeted a little and slowly stood up, using the motion to conceal his adjusting his jeans and delicately picked Kagome up bridal style. "I'm going to take her up to her room. I'll be right back."

The way Mrs. Higurashi was smiling at him when he said that made him nervous. He suddenly felt like he was in a tuxedo and Kagome in a wedding gown, which just caused his face to feel as if it had burst into flames all over again. And of course Dad just had to sit by and smirk. It was so weird. That old man seemed to love tormenting his sons, but in company, he was always so prim and proper. He seemed to think that he was an old-fashioned gentleman, always deferring to women and exercising his best manners around them, always speaking softly and fatherly. Unless you knew him well, you'd swear he was a walking anachronism.

Shaking his head lightly to clear it, Inuyasha proceeded upstairs to one of the guest rooms where Kagome was staying. Ever since he was a kid, he tried to accustom himself to doing various tasks from awkward positions, so opening to the door with Kagome still in his arms wasn't a problem.

He delicately pulled up a corner of the comforter with one foot into his hand and pulled it back, then set Kagome down on the bed and draped the comfort over her. "'Night," he whispered softly and left to go back to watching the movie.

He paused at the doorway though when he heard Kagome mumble out what sounded like his name and looked back to see her curling up and hugging one of the pillows. Inuyasha stood watching her for a moment as if mesmerized before heaving a sigh and closing the door behind him. Tomorrow morning. He had to smile at the thought of what she would think when she saw her gift. And for once... he didn't even think about what he himself would be getting.

**-x-**

**Author's Notes:** And... cut! Next chapter is Christmas Day. You'll all see what the crew got for one another at last. Happy New Year everybody!

**Mimiko: **Rin and karaoke will be in the next chapter. As for knitting, I can't make anything with my hands so I wouldn't know. The only thing I can do with them is play guitar (badly) and type (also badly). Of course with my knowledge of anatomy and nerve bundles couple with my romantic spirit... you know, it's probably better if I _don't_ finish that sentence.

**Megallan-chan:** At first, I was a little unsure about how I was going to portray Rin, but her lines almost seem to write themselves.

**Darkness-Kitsune:** The way I see it, with their colorful personalities, I can't see Inuyasha and crew being anything _but_ geeks/dorks/nerds in the modern era. Mind you, that's a compliment.

**bluefuzzyelf:** I can't wait for the April concert with Nightwish. I've decided to buy a Nemo fish plush to toss onto the stage when they play Nemo, just for the hell of it. It's apparently a tradition now. All because people heard they were playing at the House of Blues in Disney, and everyone thought Nemo was about the Pixar movie, considering Emppu is a Disney fanboy.

**Thessalian1:** Of course I'd be interested. I always get a thrill out of seeing the visions other people get when they read my works. Sort of compare and contrast to the mental images I was working with, and see what happens. It's hard to describe, you know?

**Divine-Red-Crayon:** Well, it's a little late, but like I said, I've been sick. Just stay patient a little longer to see what everyone's getting.

**shaid:** It surprises me that everyone praises the imagery, when I'm always concerned that there isn't enough detail. Kind of why I went overboard on the first chapter. But hey, go with what works. Anyway, I live in West Mifflin. Specifically, in a neighborhood I like to refer to as "The Tames Crack Alley in the Northeast." The people who have been cycling through here the last few years really suck.


	15. Christmas Day

**Author's Notes:** Happy New Years everybody!

God damn, job hunting sucks. I'm going to have to call a temp agency this week to see if I can scrounge a couple of paychecks before I go back to college. Maybe once I'm at campus, my friend Mike and I can get some work down at the comic shop. Eh, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

On a slightly different note, I've decided to shorten this whole story and have reworked the remaining plotline. The result: once again, too many chapters in the beginning. Oh well, I'm getting closer to figuring out the equation. The problem with writing something like chapter stories is that you really don't have much in the way of guidelines dictating the flow, merely your own judgment. Scriptwriting on the other hand...

Lights, Camera, Action!

Chapter 15- Christmas Day

Inuyasha was vaguely aware of waking up. But it was warm in his bed, and there was no smell of food wafting into the room, so there really wasn't a hell of a lot of motivation to get up. What was today again?

"Inuyasha!" The sonic death ray hitting his ears was followed by the 6-year-old depth charge landing on his chest, promptly removing all thoughts of sleep from Inuyasha's tired brain. Just like last year. "It's Christmas!" Rin squealed happily.

Inuyasha sat up as if his spine were made of lead and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Rin sat by his side grinning ear-to-ear wearing her Hello Kitty pajamas. "Okay, I'm up," he drawled and swung his feet out of bed. He was clad only in a pair of plaid lounge pants, but it was warm enough in the room that he didn't mind. At least, until another voice came up from the door.

"I didn't figure you for the type to wear plaid."

Inuyasha looked up to see Kagome in the door smiling at him. She was wearing only a pair of grey shorts and a T-shirt. They both blushed at the same time. Inuyasha leaned forward as he sat up so that several locks of his hair fell over his front. Why did he feel the need to be modest? No clue. But he felt a little vulnerable around Kagome with no shirt on. "You guys go ahead downstairs. I'll be there in a minute."

"Okay!" Rin said gleefully. She hopped off the bed, oblivious to the palpable awkwardness, and grabbed Kagome's hand to drag her down the hall and wake everyone else up.

Inuyasha heaved a sigh and snatched a T-shirt out of his dresser. He shoved it over his head without bothering to check what was on it, figuring out after it was on that it was his Foamy the Squirrel shirt with the Zen of Anger image. He then grabbed his Trans-Siberian Orchestra albums and stepped out into the hall. He saw Kagome being dragged into her mother's room, presumably by Rin. Try as he might, Inuyasha just couldn't bring himself to be mad at that little girl's inexhaustible energy. Normally, early birds pissed him off to no end. But as he so often told himself, Rin was different. Much like Kagome...

Inuyasha shook his head to clear it before that train of thought could continue any further. He proceeded down the stairs to see the Christmas tree all decked up with the little ceramic village under it that his mother had collected piece by piece ever since she and Inutaisho got married. And of course, there were the presents arranged neatly underneath. For once, Inuyasha didn't feel put off by all the Christmas imagery. The albums in his hand now were proof enough of that. He actually was beginning to see why people enjoyed Christmas so much. People stopped bitching at each other long enough to have a little fun. Maybe that was a gross over-simplification, but he still didn't care enough to really mind.

Inuyasha walked over to the entertainment center and put the first CD in. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra could even make Christmas music sound good. Where else were you going to hear The Nutcracker Ballet with guitar solos? He stood up and stretched out, waiting for the others. He didn't have to wait long as Rin eagerly dragged Sesshoumaru down the stairs followed by the Higurashis and Inutaisho.

Inuyasha's father rubbed his eyes and yawned once. "You can all start opening gifts if you want. I'm going to get the oven started and be right back."

That was the only cue that Rin and Souta needed, as they promptly plunged headfirst into the pile of gifts. Most of them were for those two anyway. Inuyasha himself didn't expect much, because he never asked for much. He usually just got movies and CDs, with the occasional decoration for his room. He was starting to drift off into a daydream as everyone went through their gifts when Rin handed him a small gift. He snapped out of it and looked at the tag. It was a joint gift from Rin and Souta who smiled at him expectantly as he gave them a curious look.

Inuyasha removed the wrapping paper. The plastic package inside seemed to have some kind of bundle of fabric inside. He then noticed the picture on it and realized it was a large textile poster of Iron Maiden's Powerslave cover art. A rare smile graced his lips as he looked up at the two kids. "This is one of my favorite albums. Where'd you guys get this?"

"Kagome took us to buy it at the mall while you were in the food court," Souta answered. So that's why she had insisted he go off and stake out a table for them.

"Thanks guys," Inuyasha said softly. They both jumped onto him in a bone-crushing hug, which he returned, albeit with less force.

As the morning went on, everyone continued opening gifts. Inuyasha gave his father an Italian silk tie, the kind you always got compliments on, and his brother a Zen rock garden for his desk at the office. He gave Rin a Hello Kitty lamp and Souta his own copy of Hellfire Club. He had Kagome's gift hidden behind the couch, wanting to save it for last. Another few minutes past of opening gifts until there were only two people left who hadn't opened something from one another.

Kagome smiled over at Inuyasha and picked up an envelope. "I hope you like it," she said softly.

Inuyasha opened the envelope with great curiosity and much to his surprise pulled out a pair of concert tickets. Nightwish this April. Front row, center! He looked up at Kagome in shock. "How did you get these? Tickets for this show aren't supposed to go on sale for another couple of weeks."

Kagome blushed with a smile and looked off to the side. "I was talking with your Dad. He got me in contact with the right people, and I was able to get us a couple tickets before they officially went on sale. I had to pay a little extra to keep the guy who sold them to me out of trouble, but I figured it was worth it."

Inuyasha smiled as he looked at the tickets again. "I'm assuming this second ticket means you're going with me."

"Maybe," Kagome answered playfully.

Inuyasha laughed lightly, something he rarely did. He put the tickets back in the envelope and reached behind the couch, pulling out the several bound packages. "Merry Christmas, Kagome."

She gasped in surprise as she took the large bundle and everyone looked on curiously. This was perhaps the most effort Inuyasha had put into gift-giving ever. Kagome pulled apart the ribbon holding all the packages together and began to tear away the wrapping paper. First, she opened the square box. Inside was a black dress with cream pinstripes and a matching blazer. It was just like the Roxanne Stone costume she borrowed from the theater to do Ace Spade in the episode "Lady in Black." Kagome gasped in surprise and opened the other boxes to find a black fedora and a tan trench coat. It was an exact replica of the costume she was so fond of. She soon found a card tucked into the pocket of the blazer and opened it to read it as Inuyasha recalled what he had written on the inside.

_Without Roxanne Stone, we wouldn't have Ace Spade. Thanks for everything, Kagome._

"That's not all," Inuyasha interrupted before Kagome could say anything. "The heels that go with it I had to put on back order, but they'll be here in a day or two. And I talked with the store who sold me the dress, so we can go in tomorrow to have it custom-fitted."

Though the others didn't really seem to get it, Kagome obviously did. And in appreciation she enveloped him in a tight hug, causing him to blush furiously. "Thank you, Inuyasha. That's so sweet of you." Just as Inuyasha returned the hug, Kagome reached her head up and gave him a kiss on the cheek, which caused his face to invent about five new shades of red. This wasn't the first time she had done that, but the last time, no one was around. Here...

**-x-**

Kagome smiled at Inuyasha, who looked like he was about to self-destruct. He was so bad at taking compliments or getting attention. She decided to slowly draw back before he fainted.

Inutaisho apparently decided also that he should come to his son's rescue. "Much as I hate to break up this beautiful moment, breakfast will be ready in a couple minutes. Let's get to the kitchen and Sesshoumaru and I will finish things up." Of course, even his rescue had a barb.

Breakfast consisted of eggs, bacon, homemade cinnamon rolls, and pancakes. Everyone agreed the cinnamon rolls were the best part, and Mama asked for the recipe for special occasions back home. That reminded Kagome that she'd have to contact Eri, Yuki, and Ayumi and wish them a Merry Christmas. She'd probably also have to assure them that their gifts were coming, but they would be belated.

On that note, she wondered how Miroku and Sango were doing...

**-x-**

Sango woke up early as usual. She was more of a morning person than most of her friends and was a very light sleeper to begin with. She looked down over the edge of her bed to see Miroku laying on the air mattress on the floor, sleeping peacefully. She smiled softly and reached down, gently running her fingertips along his cheek and forehead. He looked almost innocent when he was asleep.

As her fingertips drifted over his lips, he softly kissed them before slipping out one of his own hands to hold hers. That brat, he was awake the whole time! His eyes slid open and he smiled up at her. "Merry Christmas, Sango."

"Merry Christmas, Miroku." The fact that it was morning, Christmas, and he was being so sweet meant that Sango couldn't bring herself to be annoyed with his little act or wonder just how long he had been awake.

"You want to open your secret present?" Miroku asked with a sly smile.

"I might as well. It'll be a few minutes before Kohaku wakes up and crashes downstairs like a drunken elephant." With a smile, Sango took the package out from under her bed and began to unwrap it. She opened up the white box to find... pink lingerie. Very, very daring lingerie. She had kind of expected something like this, but as she took out the separate pieces, she had to admit that she didn't think Miroku would be quite so... bold. Just how did he know her size anyway? On second thought, better leave that question unanswered for the time being.

"You like it?" Miroku asked, now sitting cross-legged on the air mattress.

Sango flushed slightly and smiled embarrassedly. "Yes, but don't expect me to model this for you in the immediate future."

"That's a shame. I'm feeling kind of adventurous." He arched one eyebrow and gave his sexiest smile.

Sango rolled her eyes and playfully slapped his shoulder. "Just wait until we get settled into the townhouse," she purred coyly.

Hearing footsteps rapidly approaching, Sango stuffed her gift underneath the sheets just as Kohaku burst into the room. "Wake up, guys! It's Christmas!"

"We'll be out in a minute," Miroku said with a fake, but convincing yawn. "You caught us just getting up."

"Go get Dad and we'll meet you downstairs in a minute," Sango said with a smile. Once Kohaku had left, she smiled down at Miroku again. "Come on. I doubt the other gifts are nearly as... exciting, but I think you'll like what I got you." Miroku better appreciate the digital camera she bought him. Though she suspected that with his overactive imagination, he'd be using it in ways she didn't intend... oh, terrific! His perverted sense of humor was rubbing off on her. If this kept up, she'd need a cold shower herself before breakfast was over.

**-x-**

That evening, Kagome was surprised when Miroku and Sango showed up shortly after dinner, only to have Inuyasha explain that they got together for Christmas to have a karaoke party every year. The difference was that it was more like what happened a couple weeks ago at the dorms, with them selecting songs that had a snowball's chance in hell of getting on the radio. At least in America.

They went with Souta and Rin to a back room with a small stage and a couple of couches with a great stereo system. "I used to practice singing in here 'till I left the band," Inuyasha mused.

"You were in a band?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha abruptly realized that he had been thinking out loud and cleared his throat. "Yeah... I was the singer for about 6 months. It was a System of a Down tribute band. I wanted to try something different, but they hated all the bands I wanted us to cover so I split."

"You mean they fired you," Miroku corrected with a smirk.

"Semantics," Inuyasha growled back.

"Anyway, let's get this started," Sango cut in before the argument could go any further. "Anybody want to go first?"

"Oh, can I go?" Souta asked excitedly. "Hold on!" He dashed out of the room, and came back with his new Edguy CD. "I want to do The Piper Never Dies."

Inuyasha took the album and walked up to the CD player. "You sure kid? That song is over 10 minutes long."

"If I have the book with me, I think I can get it right," Souta said confidently.

Inuyasha just shrugged. "Okay, whatever you say." He popped the CD and cued the song up before handing Souta the lyrics booklet.

"Can I sing it too?" Rin asked. "I like that song."

"Sure," Souta answered enthusiastically.

The two kids jumped up on the little stage and grabbed a pair of microphones. Kagome smiled and took a seat as Inuyasha switched on the music and stepped out with Miroku to get snacks. Souta really like Rin, which was natural since he had said he'd always wanted a little brother or sister. And Rin _was_ young enough to be his sister. It was a little strange hearing their young voices singing along with the real vocalist on the CD. This guy sounded really familiar, too. Kind of like the guy in Iron Maiden. What was his name? Oh, forget it.

Inuyasha started headbanging and lip-synching with the lyrics, and his energy seemed to infect the kids who began trading off lines in the verse, singing in harmony at the chorus, and loosening up to the point where they were acting like real performers between reading the lyric sheet. It was such a purely "kid moment," not even Disney could put this into a movie if they tried. Souta was trying to headbang without long hair and Rin was making up dance moves. And Inuyasha was just egging them off with his dramatic stage moves, all from the waist up. He was a director in a prompter's box.

By the third chorus, Inuyasha finally stood up and tried to drag everyone up with him, singing out loud with the song and the kids. As the song came to a dramatic closing, Inuyasha put his down, let the kids sing by themselves, and just continued with the headbanging, arm gestures, and air guitar-ing. Miroku even got into the act, waving the Horns. Sango and Kagome just laughed and moshed around. When the song finally ended, Souta and Rin were flushed and sweaty from effort, but looking very proud.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Miroku said with a grin, "we have the next gods of rock." Rin just smiled embarrassedly while Souta looked like he had been handed a crown.

"Who's next?" Sango asked.

"Allow me," Miroku volunteered. He took a jewel case out from his trench coat on the couch and handed it to Inuyasha. "Put this on and give me a microphone." He swaggered up onto the stage and took up one of the microphones, giving his voice a quick test.

Inuyasha set up the stereo system, and moments later, the old blues standard Crossroads came on. Miroku sang along well, casually strolling along the stage and adopting a devil-may-care look. His performance may not have been as showy as the one before him, but he wasn't really the show-off type anyway.

When the song was over, Miroku lazily stepped off of the stage and winked at everyone. "I still got it."

"I got news for you, hipster," Inuyasha cracked. "You were born about 80 years too late."

"I'll let Sango be the judge of that," Miroku remarked. "Speaking of whom, why don't you go next, my love?"

"Alright," Sango said, accepting the microphone. "The track I want to do is the next song on the CD. I wanted to do a song Kirara would pick since she can't join us this year."

"Whatever you say," Inuyasha drawled as he cued up the song. Hey by The Pixies. Figured.

Kagome often wondered why Sango didn't listen to more punk. It suited her personality. Instead her music of choice was Allan Holdswarth, John Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald, Weather Report, and Django Reinhardt among others. Kirara on the other hand went after every classic punk and reggae album she could get her hands on. It was quirks like that you came to appreciate in the people around you.

As she sang the song, Sango managed to work in a little dance here and there, acting sexy without being raunchy seeing as there were little kids in the room. Miroku certainly looked appreciative. Up on that stage, more so than usual, Sango looked as though she could beaten you to a pulp if you messed with her.

When the song finished, Sango smiled softly and hopped off the stage looking very pleased with herself. "I thought you weren't into punk?" Inuyasha asked off-handedly.

"It's winning me over," Sango admitted. "Shippo and Kirara are slowly turning me into a Pixies fan. Kind of like how the guy at the music shop got you into Celtic Frost."

Inuyasha nodded at the memory. "Yeah... I remember thinking Tom Warrior's vocals were ridiculous the first time I heard him." With that he shrugged. "Anyway, I'll go next. Kagome, let's go."

Kagome did a small double take. "What?"

"You saw those two," he said gesturing to Rin and Souta. "We're going to need one hell of a duet to compete with that." He walked up to the stereo and pulled out one of his custom mixes, Kagome didn't see which one, and cued up a track. "Wish I Had an Angel. I figure it's appropriate, if you know what I mean."

She certainly did. Well, she knew the lyrics and it was a pretty cool song. What harm could it do. "Unless you've been taking opera lessons I don't know about," she said with a smirk, "I'm guessing you'll be singing the Viking guy's lines." For some reason, she had a hard time memorizing names in Germanic languages.

"The Viking guy?" Inuyasha looked thoroughly appalled. "Tarja Turunen sings lead, Marco Hietala sings backing vocals and plays bass." He had the tone of one lecturing a child.

"Sorry," Kagome said sarcastically. "Not all of us are music nerds."

"Get up here and sing, damn it." She won that round. Kagome got up on the stage and smiled as she gave her voice a quick test.

Miroku hit the play button and the music started on the opening lines which Kagome and Inuyasha sang in harmony. Predictably, Inuyasha was headbanging like a madman with his free hand in a fist at his hip and rocking his shoulders to drumbeat. Kagome sang but didn't move much. She wasn't really into headbanging. Still, she was feeling the urge to move more. It felt awkward with Inuyasha acting so off-kilter beside her while she just stood there and sang.

By the time the bridge came, Kagome finally let herself go and hammed up the dramatic gestures. Strangely, it actually really helped her get into the music. She left hitting the notes to her subconscious and second-nature that her lessons had instilled in her, and just went with the flow. The two of them did the final chorus facing off against one another as if to see who could out-do the other.

At the last note of the closing, Inuyasha dropped to his knees just as his voice hit its peak and hung his head when the song finished. There was a brief pause before he got up again and smirked. Okay, he won that round, but when Kagome arched a brow at him, he clearly got the message that he may not be so lucky next time.

This was probably the most unusual Christmas Kagome had ever had. But she wouldn't trade it for anything.

**-x-**

**Author's Notes: **The flu's almost gone, but my sleep schedule is all fucked up, and I need to fix it in a hurry.

On a side note, I'll soon work on my first personal film project. Let me explain. My brother is a very funny guy. Completely off-kilter. When some random music junkie told a friend of his that you aren't hardcore until you listen to Megadeth, my brother devised a sketch to parody metal elitism. He calls it Dead Baby Cafe. Now that I got a mini-DV camera for Christmas, we're going to make a video entitled "Behind the Music: Dead Baby Cafe." The plan is to have it on Ebaumsworld by February. Look for my brother as the lead singer, and me as the longhaired guitarist.

**Yabou:** I suppose just weaving in the subtle details helps to paint the image better. Go figure.

**Maiden of the Moon:** Funny story, I actually culled the content of Inuyasha and Kagome's argument over music from several message board conversations I've been in.

**Divine-Red-Crayon:** I realize not much is happening at this point, but I think I've got it worked out. Pacing is one of those things I agonize over, but can't quite seem to get the hang of, at least in this medium.

**shaid:** I listen to more different bands than just about everybody I know. When I get into something, I don't do it halfway. I actually now have more CDs than both of my parents and both of my siblings put together.

**NightMiko:** I know Christmas is over, but bear with me, okay? I planned to have these chapters written much sooner, but... you know, long story short, sometimes things just screw up.

**Father Malvado:** Can be good? Tell that to my lungs.

**Jurei:** To be honest, I can't see Inuyasha as anything other than a metalhead. He's a natural-born bad-ass. You were partly right on Kirara's music tastes. There's a little more clarity for you. As for music name-dropping, there's an abundance of it in this chapter. If any of you are reading this, I suggest you check them out.

**Magellan-chan:** Believe it or not, my mother owns more Nightmare Before Christmas memorabilia than anyone I know. My whole family agrees on Tim Burton's divinity.

**Mimiko:** I'll see if I can get a chapter out on your birthday. Anyway, there's your payoff on Inuyasha's gift to Kagome and karaoke Rin. It took me a while to decide on a song. I was going to do Fourth Legacy by Kamelot, but Piper got stuck in my head and I needed some way to get rid of it.

**bluefuzzyelf:** How was my New Years? I got smashed. Nah, I'm kidding, I only had one glass of champagne. Though that alone was enough to give me gin blossoms. For a Slavic guy, I'm not very good at holding my alcohol.


	16. It Comes Back To Bite You in the Ass

**Author's Notes:** Not much to say right now...

Lights, Camera, Action!

Chapter 16- It Comes Back to Bite You in the Ass

December 30, and Inuyasha and Kagome had to go out and finish shopping for groceries for New Years dinner. It figured the supermarket would be packed. Inuyasha really hated crowds. They made him feel claustrophobic. At least it would be possible to get this over and done with quickly.

"What's our first stop?" Kagome asked as she pulled out a cart.

"Uh..." Inuyasha pulled the slightly crumpled list his father had made from his pocket and unfolded it. "Says he wants a bag of baby carrots and a Spanish onion. Probably for the roast."

"Right. Do you mind if I pick up a couple of things for myself as long as we're here? I'll pay for them."

"Sure," Inuyasha replied off-handedly.

Most of the shopping trip passed in silence. Until a familiar voice shouted out through the crowds. "You better stay away from him!"

Inuyasha's eyes shot up toward his hairline and a grin spread over his face. "He'll rip your lungs out, Jim!" he shouted back, earning several stares from other shoppers and a surprised look from Kagome.

"I'd like to meet his tailor!" the other voice shouted in response.

Inuyasha turned on his heel to face the ponytailed young man with a grocery basket in hand striding up to them. "Ah-hoooo! Werewolves of London!"

He and Koga laughed in unison as they gave each other a friendly punch to the shoulder and shouted together, "Motherfucker!"

"Did I miss something?" Kagome asked in confusion.

Inuyasha laughed and slapped Koga on the back. "Kagome, this is Koga. Buddy of mine from high school."

Koga's eyes widened at the sight of Kagome and he quickly looked her up and down. "Damn man, she yours?"

Inuyasha felt his face go red, same as Kagome's. "Uh... no. She's a friend of mine from college. Visiting for the holidays."

"In that case," Koga beamed as he turned to Kagome, "how about-"

"Sorry, but no," Kagome hastily interrupted him. "Besides, I prefer something a little less... wired."

"Wow," Inuyasha remarked. "1.5 seconds to rejection. New record."

"Actually, I got decked at a club two months ago the instant I opened my mouth," Koga corrected. "Last time I wear tight pants when I'm planning on dirty dancing, let me tell ya."

"_Way_ more than I needed to know," Inuyasha replied with a roll of his eyes. It was then that he noticed Koga's T-shirt. In bold red letters, it read "IN MEMORY OF DIMEBAG DARREL" and showed the silhouette of a rock fist. "Where'd you get that shirt?"

"Had it custom made," Koga answered. He shook his head slightly. "I spent the entire day playing my Pantera albums after I got the news."

"Same here, man," Inuyasha responded with a nod. He waved a rock fist of his own over his heart. "Rest in peace, Dime," he said to no one in particular. "You were one of the good ones."

Koga made the same gesture and pursed his lips. "Fuck yeah," he said solemnly.

A moment of silence passed between the two friends before Kagome audibly cleared her throat. "If you two nerds are done..."

"Sorry," Inuyasha hastily apologized.

**-x-**

They continued the shopping trip with Koga, the two of them explaining their old ways and escapades to Kagome along they way. And Kagome was starting to wonder if they would ever shut up.

"So basically, when Inuyasha, Miroku, and myself were stuck rooming together for the whole trip, we realized we didn't really have any good reason to be enemies," Koga explained. "By the time we reached London, we were regular hellions. When we got back home, everyone was calling the three of us the Werewolves of London after we climbed to the top of the roof of our hotel one night and sang Warren Zevon songs to the people in the plaza below."

"Good times," Inuyasha mused. "The hotel manager was really pissed off over that one."

"Heh, yeah. Still, you and Miroku were the brains of the outfit." Koga shook his head with a smirk and looked at Kagome. "You should have seen those two. They were like Riker and Picard, Fezzik and Inigo, Piro and Largo, James and Lars-"

"You did _not_ just compare one of us to Lars Ulrich," Inuyasha snapped with one finger out as if scolding a child.

"Sorry."

"S'alright."

Kagome tightened her jaw and tried to tune it out. Apparently they hadn't seen each other in a while, because the only other thing that could get Inuyasha to be this verbose was arguing with her.

"Oh, before I forget, Kikyo's been looking for you," Koga said conversationally.

Inuyasha froze in his tracks as if he'd seen a ghost. "Y-yeah?" he stuttered. "What does she want?"

Koga shrugged. "Hell if I know, but by the way she's been going on, I think she wants to get back together with you, man."

Kagome felt a sudden tension in her chest and spine. Inuyasha was staring off into space for a moment before he shook his head. "Inuyasha?" she tentatively asked as she laid a hand on his shoulder.

"If you see her, tell her to forget it," Inuyasha snapped.

This time, it was Koga who jerked to a halt in surprise. "What?"

"Did I stutter?" Inuyasha replied flatly.

"Well, it's just..." Koga seemed to be searching for the right words. "You two kind of... and she... and you... you know..."

"I got over it," Inuyasha growled. "_She_ dumped _me_. It's her friggin' loss. I'm not going back."

Koga furrowed his brows slightly as he looked at Inuyasha with scrutiny. "Damn, man," he said at last. "She really cut you deep, didn't she? But why are you pissed at her? I'd take it out on Naraku. That guy is seriously fuckin' crazy."

Inuyasha just looked to the side and said nothing.

Kagome was feeling a strange mixture of emotions. On the one hand, he felt her chest tighten a little at the thought that Kikyo wanted Inuyasha back. For another, her old curiosity about what happened between the two of them resurfaced. And then there was this Naraku character... "Inuyasha, I think it's about time you told me the whole story," she declared bluntly.

Koga looked at Kagome in surprise as Inuyasha winced. "You didn't tell her yet?" Koga asked rhetorically. "Christ, you got issues."

Twenty minutes later saw the three of them at the cafe off to the side of the main body of the supermarket with their groceries all checked out. There was a tense silence between the three of them as they idly sipped on their coffee. "So," Kagome said at last, breaking the silence, "who wants to start?"

Both of the boys tried to be the first to say the other's name, but Koga was faster. "Inuyasha does."

"Kog-ah damn it." Heaving a growl/sigh, Inuyasha took another sip of coffee and paused as if collecting his thoughts. "Kikyo and I got together last summer. We'd known each other for a while, and it was kind of a spontaneous thing when we started dating. Things were going pretty good for a while... Right up until two weeks before I had to go back to school."

Koga picked up from there. "You ever seen Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing?'"

Kagome nodded.

"It was kinda like that," Koga continued. "You see, Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, and myself don't have many enemies. One guy, though... His name is Naraku Mikamura. He comes from a pretty well-off family and thinks he's King Shit on Turd Hill."

"Total fuckin' bastard," Inuyasha grumbled. "The jack-ass targeted us for destruction from day one. His family isn't too much better either. Sango hates his guts mostly because her father and Naraku's have a lifetime grudge. And it gets worse... The car accident that killed Sango's mother... Mister Mikamura was driving the car that slammed into them."

Kagome felt her eyes go wide in shock. "Didn't the police do anything?"

"The son of a bitch got acquitted," Koga growled. "It was never proven, but we all have our suspicions that he bribed the jury. Wouldn't put it past him. Naraku always brought that up whenever he wanted to torment Sango. It got him his lights punched out more than once, but I don't think he cared."

Kagome had never known anyone who could be so cruel. She hoped that she would never have to meet them.

"The list of offenses goes on," Inuyasha picked up. "When Shippo visited us last summer, he had to put up with that prick, too."

"But what does this have to do with Shakespeare?" Kagome interrupted.

Judging by Inuyasha's wince, it was clear he had been trying to stall and dance around the subject as long as possible. He pursed his lips and stared down at the table for a moment. "Naraku had been shot down by Kikyo not long before we started dating. He had been her personal stalker for about a year before that. It was creepy as hell. I guess the thought of Kikyo being with anyone but him drove him ape-shit insane."

"-Er," Koga appended.

"Right," Inuyasha remarked dismissively. "Anyway, he set up this little plan, got a couple of his buddies, and..." Inuyasha stopped as his words began to trail off. Thinking about it obviously was filling him with regret and frustration.

Koga picked up where Inuyasha left off. "It was a pretty elaborate set-up. He ended up tricking Inuyasha and Kikyo into thinking that they were cheating on one another. I was there when they confronted one another about it. By the time the dust settled, people started taking sides. Everything just snowballed while Miroku, Sango, and I tried to figure out just what the fuck happened."

"That went on for about three days," Inuyasha sighed in resignation. "By the time Koga and the others had figured out just what had happened, Kikyo and I weren't even on speaking terms. As soon as I found out how badly I'd screwed up, I actually swallowed my pride and apologized. Gave her the whole story and asked her if she'd have me back... She said 'no.'"

Kagome felt a pang in her chest. Admitting that was obviously really difficult for Inuyasha. And it seemed it still stung him deep down. "Why?" she asked softly.

Inuyasha frowned and looked to the side at nothing in particular. "She said it wouldn't work because we didn't trust each other... In hindsight, I guess she was right. It wouldn't have worked out in the end... I still want Naraku dead, though."

"Get in line," Koga mumbled as he took another sip of his coffee. "Still, if it's any consolation, I think you came out of this better than she did. When you left, you were a wreck. From where I'm sitting, though, you look pretty good now."

So there it was. The story of how Inuyasha and Kikyo came to be and end. It seemed kind of surreal. And the awkward silence between the three of them wasn't helping any. For some reason, it really bothered her to know that after all that, Kikyo wanted to get back together with Inuyasha. But judging by his reaction, her decision would be one of those mistakes you make in life that comes back to bite you in the ass one day.

"Listen," Koga said at last as he finished his coffee, "I gotta get going. Keep in touch, okay?" With that, he stood up, pulled on his jacket, and strode out past the automatic doors.

Kagome and Inuyasha sat silently a moment longer. She wasn't really sure what to say. What do you say after hearing a story like that? The air felt like it was about to be clogged up with huge lumps of solid awkward. Not knowing what else to do, Kagome took a leaf out of Inuyasha's book and decided that actions spoke louder than words. She tentatively reached over and placed a hand comfortingly over his. He looked up in surprise to see her gentle smile and a look that she hoped he would understand meant that she would be there for support if he needed.

Though the change in his body language was very subtle, Inuyasha visibly relaxed and the tension in the air drifted away like steam through an open window. "Let's get home," he said at last. "I promised Rin and Sota a snowball fight. They don't stand a chance against me, but who does?"

And with that, Kagome smiled as order was once again restored to the universe.

**-x-**

**Author's Notes:** It's a good thing I have all weekend to straighten out my sleep schedule. I've missed three classes already. For me, that's pretty bad. I'm hoping I can do better on Monday.

**BluePuppy:** Have you heard Nightwish's song Creek Mary's Blood yet? I swear, it will move you to tears.

**Black Th0rn:** The only thing better than headbanging is windmilling your hair.

**Magellan-chan:** I wanted to get my mother the Jack Skellington comforter from Hot Topic, but I have no money.

**Scherezade7:** It's good to know that all that emotion is translated so well in prose. It's hard to describe, but my favorite stories, songs, and movies were always the ones that you could tell the creators truly enjoyed making.

**bluefuzzyelf:** Well, I'm not terribly picky about my music, but at the time I wrote that karaoke scene, I had all of those bands and artists on my playlist over the last week, so I had to use the ones that fit into the characters. Inuyasha being a metal fan has always been obvious to me. But it's interesting to think what kind of styles the others would like.

**Divine-Red-Crayon:** The hook up will be coming soon, but I haven't quite decided how I want to present it. Right now, I've got several ideas running through my head and I'm having a hard time settling on one.

**Jurei:** In terms of villains, I wanted to try and set Naraku up in a realistic way. He's not the same uber-villain from the same series. Rather, in this story I wanted to keep him as a sinister figure in the background, the rival we all have but don't want and seems to always be in the right place at the right to make your life miserable. As for music, I was never much of a fan of either Metallica or Megadeth. But the Metallica fanboys piss me off more, almost as bad as the Slipknot fanboys. Iron Maiden are superior in every way. Bruce Dickinson is actually a personal hero of mine.

**Decrescendo:** Some bands offer mp3s of their songs for free or a small cost on their website these days. Rhapsody is an Italian power metal band that's offering mp3s of their new album for like a buck apiece on their website. If you're looking for jazz, you can get a lot of good free songs off of Charlie Hunter's website. That guy is a machine, let me tell you.

**Mimiko:** Well, I couldn't deliver on the birthday chapter, but I hope the revelations of this chapter make up for it.

**Father Malvado:** Blind Guardian are one of my favorite bands. Wish I Had an Angel was done by Nightwish. Squiers are decent learner's brands, but just to warn you that if you practice seriously, you'll find that you'll have outgrown that thing in about a year.

**Fanny T:** You're right. It is a crime that you have seen The Nightmare Before Christmas. Watch it. Now!

**TriGemini:** If I had let that kiss scene go any further, there wouldn't be too much of a story left, would there?


End file.
